A New Apprentice
by elvishmockingbird
Summary: Looking for a new apprentice or two, Slade teams up with Dr. Drakken and Shego, so Kim and Ron join forces with the Titans to stop them. However, there is more to Slade than meets the eye. Starfire tries to learn from Kim how to be a normal earth teenager, Ron wants to hang with his "fellow sidekick", and Shego sees a chance to get some of her own glory. RobxStar.
1. Meet the Villains

"You know, Dr. D, there's this thing called rush hour traffic," Shego said, staring out the car window at the bumper to bumper situation on the freeway. "You couldn't have left half an hour earlier?"

"Of course not, Shego," Dr. Drakken snapped. "I have to beat Professor Dementor at the evil baking contest and I couldn't find my lucky potholder."

Shego gave him a funny look. "You have a…lucky potholder?" She dug into his supply bag and pulled out a small blue potholder with an embroidered daisy. "This? We're running late to the villain convention for this thing? Seriously?"

"I assure you, Shego, it is a very serious matter," Dr. Drakken replied, snatching it out of her hands. "It is not just some 'thing', it is a family heirloom of many generations! The Lipsky family bakers have always carried it whenever they…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Still, if we had to go get Grandma's potholder for your stupid bake-off, why aren't we taking the jet? I'm missing the workshop on evil cosmetics."

"That's a thing?" Drakken asked.

"Hey, it takes effort to look really bad and really good at the same time." She propped her feet up on the dashboard.

He swatted them off. "Are you crazy, Shego? I just stole this car, you can't mess it up yet! And for your information, after our last stint with Team Possible, the jet is in need of some serious repairs. I couldn't possibly bring a half-broken jet barely holding itself together to my bake-off…I mean the villain convention! Think of the image!"

"…so you're driving a stolen minivan?"

It was indeed a stolen minivan. Specifically, a minivan with a "Number One Soccer Mom" bumper sticker, a couple of dents, and sticky juice stains in the back seats.

Drakken was tired of Shego's attitude. "At least it's something I stole! That has to help my image a little bit!" He took a deep breath. "I'm going to turn on some music."

The mad genius (or so he called himself) reached down and turned on the radio. It immediately went to the usual driver's preferred station…which was playing "Call Me Maybe".

"NO!" Shego yelled, grabbing the dial. "I can live with blue weirdos having bake-offs with lucky potholders driving minivans, but this is too far!"

"SHEGO!" Dr. Drakken screamed, pushing her hand off. "I'm the boss here, you're the sidekick! I sign your paycheck! If I decide to listen to my tunes, you have absolutely no say in the matter!" He immediately began to sing along at the top of his lungs, "Here's my number, so call me maybe!"

Shego rolled her eyes and propped her feet back on top of the dashboard. Drakken was going to scold her again, but she showed him a green fiery glowing hand and he backed off. Two green glowing hands and the music was also turned off.

"Honestly," she commented, inspecting her finger nails, "I don't know why I put up with you."

Back in Jump City, the alarm sounded through Titans Tower. The five teen super heroes dropped what they were doing and rushed to the common room. Robin arrived first. He ran to the computer to see what was going on.

"It's a break-in," he told the others, "at the chemical factory. They're not sure who it is, but we need to get over there now. Titans, go!"

The team ran to the garage and jumped into the T-Car, with Cyborg at the wheel and Robin shotgun. Cyborg started the engine and they zoomed off to the other side of town.

"That chemical facility recently began a top secret project with experimental xenothium," Robin said as they sped past the video store. "If that's what was stolen, my money's on Red X."

"I don't think so, dude," Beast Boy replied. "Red X hasn't been spotted in town for almost a whole year."

"Yeah man," Cyborg added, "how would X know about a top secret experiment anyway? He lost the xenothium scanner. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Gizmo trying to power his little machines of mayhem with that stuff. That kid needs some serious help."

"The Gizmo does not often break in to the factory of chemicals, friend Cyborg," Starfire commented. "Perhaps it is not he after all."

"Of course it's not," Raven said in her usual creepy monotone. "Cyborg just wants an excuse to kick Gizmo's butt. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the lesser bad guys. Probably Doctor Light or Professor Chang or something."

Cyborg pulled over and parked in front of the factory. He checked his sensors as they walked in. "I got a lock. Whoever it is, he's on the second floor, near the xenothium."

"Then let's meet him," Robin said with a determined look.

Following Cyborg's lead, the Titans ran past what looked like a battle zone, which was covered with exploded chemicals and knocked out security guards. "What's-his-face sure packs a punch," Beast Boy said, looking around.

Footsteps were heard. "He's heading toward where they keep the xenothium!" Cyborg said.

The team ran as fast as they could to the guarded cell. In the previous scuffle, the lights had been turned off. All they could see was the pale, sealed door leading to the forbidden chemical. A familiar-looking silhouette jumped out of the shadows and stood in front of the door, placing a small disc on it.

"FREEZE!" Robin yelled.

Raven flipped the light switch.

The Titans had the shock of their lives.

Standing there in front of the door was not Red X, Professor Chang, Doctor Light, or even Gizmo. It was a man clad in metal, with one eye hole in his mask. He was a large, towering man, built for combat. They knew him at once, though they could not believe it. Robin narrowed his eyes and said what they were all thinking.

"Slade."

The disc exploded and the door flung open. Slade ran in to fetch his prize. Robin jumped in after him and kicked the tube of red substance out of his arch-enemy's hands.

Slade did not seem disturbed at all. In fact, his voice sounded amused. "Robin, what a pleasant surprise. I honestly wondered if you would make it."

The villain dodged two sonic blasts from Cyborg as he bent down to pick up the stolen tube. It turned black and was levitated away from him by Raven, her eyes glowing white. Slade threw an exploding disk at her, blinding her and making her drop the coveted object. Beast Boy flew down to catch it as a pterodactyl, but Slade easily fought him off with two simple moves and ran out the door. Robin wasted no time in running after him, yelling, "Titans, get him!"

The other four members of the team hurried after their leader and his target. Starfire flew ahead and floated in front of the hallway exit, blocking Slade's path. "I am sorry for the inconvenience," she stated plainly, "but you must stop here."

"How considerate of you," he replied, before pulling out a laser gun and shooting at her. She nimbly dodged every shot without a scratch, but the distraction was enough for him to scoot past her and turn the corner.

Robin ran after him, calling the Titans on their communicators. "Seal all the exits! Don't let him leave the building!"

Obediently, Raven found the door to the stairs and the nearby elevators, telepathically turning them black and shutting them. "He's stuck on this floor, Robin," she said.

Cyborg chimed in from elsewhere in the factory. "I got a lock on his heat signal. He's headed toward Robin's coordinates."

"Then it looks like I'll have to take him down," Robin said through gritted teeth.

"Robin," Starfire warned, "you must use the caution. Do not allow Slade to enter your cranium."

"Star's right," Cyborg added. "You gotta keep your head together, man. The last thing we need is for you to into obsessive Slade mode on us. I'm sending his coordinates to everyone so we can find you once you got him cornered."

"I can take him alone," Robin insisted, hearing footsteps ahead of him.

"Like we haven't heard that one before," Beast Boy replied, morphing out of his hunting dog shape from which he had been tracking Slade's scent.

Robin made no reply. If he ever bothered to make a list of the things he hated most in the world, he knew Slade would be on top of the list. Their enmity wasn't the usual cat and mouse, hero and thief kind. It was personal. All the other enemies the Teen Titans fought merely committed crimes. Slade was an expert manipulator, and there was more than one instance of him messing with Robin's head and exploiting him. The memories of what he had been through over Slade only made Robin detest him more, and increased his desire to catch this criminal mastermind.

Robin rounded a bend and saw Slade standing there with his back to him. He jumped, posed to land with his feet on Slade's mask. Slade whipped around just before, grabbed the Boy Wonder's ankle, and slammed him into the wall. In his other hand was the tube of forbidden xenothium.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Robin," he taunted.

Robin quickly got back to his feet. "What do you want with the xenothium?" he demanded.

"Oh, I think you will enjoy it immensely," he answered, "but I'm afraid I must keep it a surprise."

"You can't surprise me. I know all your tricks." Robin whipped out his bo staff and advanced on his arch foe, landing a solid kick to Slade's stomach.

This barely fazed Robin's opponent, who swung back several strong punches. Before long, there was an intense battle happening. The two were almost evenly matched, but somehow Slade kept getting the upper hand. Robin lunged for the xenothium, but Slade tripped him, making him miss his target and land flat on his face.

"Embarrassing, Robin," Slade said sternly. "I would have expected more from a former apprentice of mine." Robin tried to get up, but felt Slade's heavy boot pinning down his back. "You really have been going soft, haven't you, Robin? Disappointing." He shook his head like a disappointed father looking at his son's failed math test.

Robin could feel his face reddening as his anger rose. _Stay cool_, he told himself. _Don't let him into your head. Not this time._ He rolled out of Slade's reach and sprung back to his feet, attacking as soon as he caught his breath. The two were once again locked together in an even fight. Robin pulled out a birdarang and sliced Slade's hand, making him drop the precious chemical, then shoved him as far from it as possible.

Right on cue, a green snake slithered into the room, morphing into Beast Boy, who picked up the test tube with a smirk. "Dude, butter fingers much?" he asked. He transformed into a kangaroo and placed the xenothium in his pouch. He turned around to hop away, but was shot with Slade's laser gun, falling on the ground in human form.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed, showing up with Raven and Cyborg at the perfect moment. She helped him to his feet. "Are you the okay?"

He nodded. "I think he missed. He only barely hit my ear. I was just surprised."

"And that's why you squeaked when he hit you," Raven said, hovering over the scene.

"Dude! I did not squeak! Hey!"

Those few seconds were all Slade needed. He broke from Robin and swept the xenothium from where it had rolled to on the floor. "I'd like to stay and chat," he said, his one eye on all five of them, "but I have an appointment to keep." He began sprinting away down the hallway.

"Slade!" Robin called after him, following in pursuit.

Cyborg shot a few sonic blasts, then checked the scanner on his arm. "This place is a dead end," he said. "Slade's backing himself into a trap."

"Not if he's Slade, he isn't," Raven replied, flying behind Starfire toward the end of the hallway. Cyborg and Beast Boy followed close behind.

When they reached the end, the Titans saw their leader gripping his staff, pushing against Slade, who was holding it from the other direction.

"It is very rude to keep me from my appointment," Slade commented.

"What are you planning?" Robin shouted.

"What makes you think I'm planning anything?"

"Breaking into a factory to steal a highly dangerous chemical all by yourself? No henchmen, no robots? This is hardly typical behavior for you."

"How well you know me. We are so very much alike." He snapped the staff in half and shoved Robin away. He pulled an exploding disk with his signature "S" on it, and attached it to the wall. It exploded and created a huge opening. "Now I must…"

Raven blocked the hole with a black force field while Cyborg landed two punches on Slade's one-eyed mask. This gave Robin the time to jump onto Slade's back and try to drag him down. Slade struggled with the boy for a while, always holding the precious xenothium just out of Robin's reach. Cyborg and Starfire prepared to fire, but did nothing out of fear of hitting Robin by mistake. That gave Slade an idea. He pulled out his laser gun and blasted Starfire in the stomach.

She let out a little cry as she fell to the ground. This time, Slade did not miss his target. After half a moment's hesitation, Robin let go of Slade and ran to Starfire's side, yelling her name. Using the distraction, Slade smashed his prize on the ground, causing an explosion of red smoke. The force threw Beast Boy against Cyborg, preventing him from firing, and Raven was too blind to keep up the force field. They heard his voice saying, "Until next time, Titans." When the smoke disappeared, so had Slade.


	2. Meet the Heroes

**(A/N: Hey there! Just a few notes I probably should have mentioned in the last chapter: this story is set after Trouble in Tokyo, but I'm assuming the Titans went straight home after hearing that they were needed back home, so Robin and Starfire haven't actually been on an official date yet. Also, Ron and Kim are already together. This is my first story, so if the formatting ever seems weird, I'm sorry, I'm still kind of figuring this out. Now on to the actual story!)**

"Come on, KP, you have to help me cram!" Ron Stoppable insisted, clutching a copy of _Hamlet_ in desperation as he followed his girlfriend to her locker through the crowded hallway of Middleton High School.

"Couldn't you have just read the book?" Kim Possible asked, entering in her combination.

"I did read the book…"

"All of it?"

Ron scoffed. "Are you kidding me, KP? Reading this whole thing would break every aspect of my personality. I've got to stay true to my inner Ron-ness."

"Then you can stay true to your inner Ron-ness's grade," Kim replied as she finished the combination and clicked open the door. "The least you could have done was start cramming last night instead of two periods before. Just read as much as you can during lunch. I don't think even I can help you out of this one." She switched out her science and math textbooks with her English and Latin ones.

"But think of all the things I've done for you," Ron pleaded. "They don't make sidekicks like me every day. You couldn't save the world without me. And we've literally been best friends forever."

She sighed. "All right, you win," she smiled, giving in. "I'll help you study at lunch, but that doesn't mean I can get you a good grade on this test."

"I thought you said you can do anything," Ron smiled.

"Anything but miracles," Kim replied. She was about to shut her locker when the computer suddenly buzzed to life and Wade's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Kim! Hey Ron!" the small technological genius greeted them.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim asked.

"Remember when I intercepted that anonymous email Drakken had received last week?" Wade reminded them. He began typing on his own keyboard, making a map of Middleton pop up on Kim's monitor. "Well, after some snooping, I've found that he's been receiving and sending tons of messages with this contact. I was able to hack into his account and I've got some clues for you."

"So you know who's behind the emails?" Kim asked. During her last fight with Dr. Drakken, Kim had used her Kimmunicator to let Wade hack the computer system that controlled the mad scientist's latest doomsday device. By accident, he also downloaded a strange email from an unknown sender that seemed to be offering to meet Drakken in person for some reason. Wade had been trying to trace the origin of the message ever since with no luck.

"No," he shook his head. "This thing has been rerouted through Sweden, Australia, and even Zambia multiple times."

"Somebody doesn't like to be discovered," Kim commented.

"Right, but get this." Wade zoomed in on the map of Middleton and revealed a blinking red dot on the opposite side of town from the high school. "Whoever this is, he offered to meet Drakken at the annual villain convention today. Drakken checked into the convention only a couple hours ago, and he's meeting the mystery contact in the early afternoon. It seems like whoever this guy is, he's offering some kind of partnership."

"Really?" Ron asked, skeptical. "I mean, I know the guy says he's an evil genius, but how many times have we blown him up? If I were a bad guy, I would want a partner with a better success rate. Am I missing something here?"

"No, you're actually making a lot of sense," Kim agreed. "But somebody must want Drakken for something, and it can't be good. Wade, when do you want us over there?"

"As soon as possible."

"All right! Looks like somebody's going to miss his English test!" Ron said, jumping up in celebration and throwing his book in the air.

"If we're lucky, this'll be over before sixth period," Kim told him, catching his book and handing it back to him. "Read it on the way."

Ron looked at _Hamlet_ sadly and sad. "Shakespeare sure knows how to kill a guy's inner Ron-ness."

"We'll be there in a sec, Wade," Kim said, closing her locker for real this time. The two hurried out to her car and Kim started the engine.

Meanwhile, the Titans minus Robin stared at the gaping hole Slade had left in the wall. Robin helped Starfire back to her feet with a worried look. "Well, at least he didn't get the xenothium," Beast Boy shrugged, trying to be optimistic.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Robin asked the alien, still focused on her. "That was quite a hit."

"Yes, I believe I am the 'all right'," she assured him. "I am stronger than I look."

His worries now satisfied, Robin began to feel his hatred for Slade rising up again. He slammed his fist into the wall. "I can't believe we let him get away…again! I nearly had him this time!"

"Chill, man," Cyborg told the team leader. "I…"

"You think we'll get him next time?" Robin finished. "You always say that, you all do. I know you're trying to be encouraging, but it isn't working. The fact is ever since he's returned, Slade's been more slippery than ever, and we've never been further from discovering what he's up to than we are right now. He's always two steps ahead of us. What are we supposed to do, wait for him to pop up somewhere and go through this all over again?"

"Robin, should not be so hard on Robin," Starfire said gently. "Slade cannot hide forever. We did indeed prevent him from stealing the xenothium. Is that not a thing to celebrate?"

"A minor victory," Robin replied coldly, "while the bigger problem is still at hand. If only we could find him instead of waiting for the alarm to go off."

"Robin," Cyborg said, "something tells me we don't have to just wait for Slade to resurface." He showed the team a little blinking light on his arm. "I attached a miniature GPS tracking device onto the back of Slade's helmet when I punched him. He's pretty far away by now, but I can see where he's heading east."

"What's east that Slade would be interested in?" Raven asked.

Cyborg pushed a few buttons on his arm computer and a holographic image popped up of a convention center. "The annual villain convention in Middleton. Almost all of the major bad guys can be found there when it meets."

Beast Boy looked questioningly at his half-robot friend. "A convention? I thought Slade was more of a loner. This doesn't seem like his thing."

"Neither is breaking in to steal something valuable without any robot henchmen for backup," Robin pointed out, "but he still did it. Cyborg, how fast can we get to Middleton?"

"In the T-Car? We should be there before you can say 'Titans, go!'…that is, if you can handle it."

"What do you mean, 'if I can handle it'?"

"Well," Raven said, "last time you went to go meet Slade where he was, your obsession kind of got the better of you. And also the time before that. And that other time before that."

Robin hated to admit it, but Raven was right. He did have a habit of giving in to his obsessive tendencies whenever he was alone with Slade. The only time that hadn't been the case was when the two had been forced to work together during the would-be apocalypse. Ever since Slade had come back, though, it was clear that the battle with Trigon had not changed where he stood in Robin's mind.

"I'll be careful, I promise," Robin told his teammates. "Besides, you'll all be there to keep an eye on me. If you see me losing it, go right on ahead and stop me."

The other Titans looked at each other uneasily. No one wanted to be the one to get between Robin and his arch nemesis. Finally, they nodded their agreement. "Fine," Cyborg spoke for all of them, "but you'd better watch yourself. Next stop, Middleton!"


	3. The Battle of the Convention Center

**(A/N: I won't be able to update for a few weeks, so this one's extra long to tide you over. Enjoy!)**

Dr. Drakken, wearing a pink apron left over from his Cocoa Moo days over his usual blue lab coat, waved his new trophy shaped like a golden frying pan in front of Shego's nose. "And you said a baking contest was a waste of time!" he scoffed. "I am clearly the greatest evil chef in this whole convention. This ought to make Dementor apologize for laughing at my stolen vehicle when we arrived. Admit it, you're proud of me."

"Yeah…right, proud's the word." Shego turned away and rubbed her fingers on her temples. "Why do I even try?" she muttered.

Drakken took off the apron, bunched it up and used it to shine his prize until he could see his reflection perfectly. "And now, Shego," he told his sidekick, "we are going to meet with Mr. Wilson."

"Mr. Who?" Shego thought for a moment. "You mean that weirdo who's been sending you all those emails? He's meeting us here?" She paused before adding, "And you were more excited about a stupid bake-off?"

"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you," he replied with no reaction whatsoever to her last comment. "Yes, he should be in front of the mind control exhibit in fifteen minutes."

"So it's 'Mr. Wilson'? Now that's a scary bad guy name," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "'Ooh, everybody run! It's Mr. Wilson!'"

"Stop mocking, Shego, it's rude," Drakken rebuked, knowing full well that nothing short of a personality-changing Attitudinator could make Shego stop mocking him. "I am sure that is an alias of some kind. He came across as very evil in the emails."

"So you have never met this guy in person?"

"Not until today. He has an offer for me that I think is worth hearing."

"Oy. Talk about your online safety hazards. Well, if he turns out to be some sicko, don't expect me to save your butt. He's probably some dork living in his mom's basement…" She turned to walk away and found herself looking up at a tall man in what looked like a completely metal suit. The lighting in this particular area was such that he was covered mostly in shadow, but Shego could plainly see one eye on the left side of his mask, which appeared to be studying her intently. "…whoa. H-hey there."

"Dr. Drakken and Shego, I presume?" the man said in a deep, sinister voice.

"Um…why yes!" Drakken replied, quickly hiding the golden frying pan behind his back.

"I believe you have exchanged communications lately regarding a partnership with a certain Mr. Wilson," the man said. "That is not the name I am most commonly known by. Call me Slade."

The way he said it sent shivers up Drakken's spine. Even Shego felt a chill.

Slade's one eye scanned the area. Villains of every shape and size bumped and jostled in a huge crowd. He continued. "Perhaps we should find a less popular location. Follow me."

Meanwhile, Kim Possible managed to sneak past the security guards in front of the convention center, pulling Ron close behind even though he was, shockingly, buried in his book. Now, the two were crouched behind a vacated information booth. Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. "Wade, any idea where Drakken is?"

"Could be anywhere," the boy replied, "but I doubt he'd want to have a serious discussion with this mystery man in broad daylight. Try somewhere secluded where he could have a private meeting."

"So we're just wandering aimlessly around the villain convention?"

"Exactly. But check your backpack."

Kim took it off and pulled out two costumes, one Ron's size and one hers. "Villain costumes? Haven't we done this before…and it didn't go well?"

"It's just long enough for you to walk across the floor without suspicion. They're new, you'll like them."

Kim unfolded hers. It was a red tunic with matching pants, a thick belt, tall black boots, and a short black wig. "It's Madame Rouge," Wade explained. "She can stretch herself into any shape or size. Bad news. Seriously."

"What happens if someone expects me to use my powers?" Kim asked, scrutinizing the costume.

"Madame Rouge is a legend," Wade told her. "As long as you don't say anything, most of these guys will leave you alone out of some combination of fear and respect."

Kim was satisfied with this explanation. She looked at Ron's. It was a white body suit with a green hood that contained a giant plastic eyeball. "And this is…?"

"See-more," Wade explained. "The real one can do all kinds of stuff with his different eyes, but this one just switches the color if you push the button on the belt. He's the opposite of Madame Rouge: not enough people would take him seriously to cause him trouble."

"You getting this, Ron?" Kim asked her partner.

Ron looked over the book's cover. "How am I supposed to 'get' this when I can't get past Act One, Scene Two? Even Rufus doesn't understand the language in here." Rufus popped his face out from behind the book and made a confused face.

Kim passed him his costume. "The men's room is right behind you. Change quickly and head left. I'll go to the right. One of us will find Drakken. Read while you walk, if you have to."

The pair split up to their respective changing areas and came out in perfect costume, minus Kim being a little bit short of Madame Rouge. They made quick eye contact when they came out, then split off to the right and left to start the search.

Near the back of the convention center, five teenaged heroes stared at the scene before them. "Dude," Beast Boy said in a voice full of awe, "I've never seen so many bad guys in one place. This is even bigger than the Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters in Paris."

"Way bigger," Cyborg agreed. He sniffed the air and licked his lips. "Hey, is that kettle com they're selling in there? Man, I could go for some sweet…"

"We're not here for kettle corn," Robin interrupted him. "We're here for Slade. That's our only objective. We need to find out what he's doing and how to stop him. Cyborg, do you have those holographic simulators?"

"Got 'em right here." He held out his hand and revealed two rings for each Titan, color coded to match each one. "As long as we've got these on, we can go relatively unnoticed."

The team put on their rings and activated them.

Raven was the first to react. Using her communicator as a mirror, she examined her messy black hair, ugly glasses, and oversized pink sweater. "Ew."

Beast Boy began to snicker, but then he looked down at himself. "Dude!" he exclaimed, "I look like some kind of weird fish man!"

Cyborg looked over his own projected body. "Well, I never thought I'd see myself as a blonde, but I think this works." He had a blonde mullet, a muscular build, and dressed like he had just come from a motorcycle race.

Robin looked down at his all-black uniform. "So…I'm a ninja? That's it?"

"Not just any ninja," Cyborg said, showing Robin his reflection in the communicator.

Robin nearly jumped, eyes wide in terror. "I'm a monkey?"

"A ninja monkey," Cyborg corrected him. "You'd be surprised how common they are. You're barely short enough to pass, but I think it's okay if you try to slouch a little bit."

Robin cringed at the statement, intended to make fun of his height. Usually, the spikey hair made up for his vertically challenged stature, but the monkey ninja suit covered it up.

"Robin?" Starfire asked. "Do I look the 'okay'?"

Robin looked at her. She had short blonde hair, black pants, and a red crop top. She didn't just look okay. She looked amazing. "You look great, Star," he said, glad his monkey face hid how red his face was getting.

"All right team," Cyborg said, "in case anyone recognizes y'all, I'll tell you who you are. Beast Boy, your name is Gill. Raven is DNAmy. I'm Motor Ed. Starfire is Adrena Lynn. Robin…well…you're just a ninja monkey. We'll call you Robbie."

"Great," groaned Robbie the Ninja Monkey.

The team split up. Cyborg and Beast Boy, or Motor Ed and Gill, made a beeline for the food court. Raven, or DNAmy, preferred to search alone. She thought it would help her sense Slade without distractions. Starfire and Robin, also known as Adrena Lynn and Robbie the Ninja Monkey, went together toward the mind control exhibits.

Also heading toward the food court was Ron, in disguise as See-more of the H.I.V.E. Five. His nose was still buried in _Hamlet_. He sighed, "Rufus, I don't know how Kim does the whole 'smart' thing. This story doesn't even make sense. I thought it was about star crossed lovers, but I'm not seeing that anywhere so far." Rufus made a couple of squeaky noises. "Oh, you're right," Ron realized, "that was _Macbeth_."

"Yo, grass stain," Cyborg whispered, pulled Beast Boy out of line for the kettle corn, "isn't that See-more? I thought we froze him."

Beast Boy looked. "Huh. Weird. How do you think he got out of that?"

"I don't know, but Slade's used the H.I.V.E. students before. Maybe he defrosted them. I say we follow him."

"Okay," Beast Boy agreed, pulling out a dollar, "but first can I get back in line? For bad guys, the people here make some really good food and I have been craving kettle corn since…hey!"

Cyborg dragged him away from the kettle corn stand. "We're going now," he said sternly. Beast Boy followed obediently, but not without a grudging look Cyborg's blonde direction.

Ron stopped walking and looked up, sniffing the air. "You smell that, Rufus?"

"Mm-hm!" Rufus squeaked with joy. "Kettle corn!"

"And nobody gets between Ron Stoppable and his kettle corn." He closed his eyes and took a step in the direction of the glorious scent, bumping straight into something large and…kind of hard. "Ow, dude…uh-oh."

He found himself staring at Motor Ed and Gill. "H-hey guys," he said. "Haven't seen you two in a while. You look great. Well, I am definitely not Ron Stoppable, so I'll just be on my way…"

"Sorry," Motor Ed said, in a voice that sounded nothing like Motor Ed. "B…Gill and I have some questions to ask you. Like how come you're not an icicle?"

"Um…" Ron looked around nervously, hoping Kim would pop out and save him. She was nowhere nearby. He decided the safest thing to do was play along. "Excuse me, do you know who I am? I am the great See-more! Nobody freezes the great See-more! Now excuse me, my evil friends, before I use my laser vision on you." He pushed the button to turn the plastic eye red.

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each, then back at See-more. See-more was the last villain they would expect to act like that. "Maybe something's messing with his brain," Beast Boy whispered.

Cyborg nodded. Slade was not known to use mind control, but it was a definite possibility. He also knew that if anyone thawed out See-more, that person could not be a member of the Brotherhood of Evil. Slade seemed the obvious choice. "This kid knows something," Cyborg whispered back. Then, he turned to See-more. "We need to have a talk," he said, taking a step forward.

Ron began to sweat. "Okay, just let me get my…Rufus attack!"

Rufus jumped out of the teenager's pocket and began biting "Motor Ed" while Ron made a mad dash in the opposite direction. "Gill" charged after him, trying to resist the urge to turn into a cheetah and make this all go down easier. Rufus, after nearly swallowing a gear or two, dropped to the ground, realizing that this Motor Ed was apparently made out of some very hard metal. Cyborg scooped him up in his hand and followed after Beast Boy, while Rufus muttered high-pitched complaints.

On the opposite side of the convention center, Starfire looked around with curiosity. She had seen many strange things during her few years on earth, but never so many new people and things in one place. Everywhere she looked there were unusual looking machines, powered by even more unusual looking people. As she began to stare at the exhibit next to her, Robin touched her hand.

"We're looking for Slade," he reminded her. "We can come back here later."

"Of course," she agreed, following only a couple of steps behind him. However, the monkey ninja suit didn't exactly help him stand out in the crowd. As soon as a big crowd of very tall super villains passed by, she could no longer see him. She wanted to call out his name, but it would blow both of their covers.

"Adrena Lynn? Is that you?" a voice asked. A young villain in an orange outfit pushed his way through the crowd, holding a notebook and pen. "How did you get out of prison?" Starfire hesitated, not sure what Adrena Lynn would say. He finished it for her. "Probably some amazing stunt, huh? I watched your show, like, every single day. I can't believe Kim Possible and whatever-her-sidekick's-name-is would get you canceled like that. Can I have your autograph?"

"Okay," she said sweetly, signing his notebook with a heart after the name.

"Cool! Hey, guys!" he called to his friends standing by the demonstration of a new sonic detonator. "It's Adrena Lynn! And she's signing autographs!"

Starfire was suddenly swamped by young villains begging her to sign notebooks, DVDs, costumes, their arms, and even one guy's cast, which he apparently got trying to imitate Adrena Lynn. All the attention was making her kind of nervous, and she needed to get back to catching Slade. "Thank you, friends, but I must…that is, I…this is most touching but…" The crowd just grew bigger and bigger. No one listened to her protests. Too nice to openly refuse, she felt herself getting buried in admirers. _I wish Robin were here_, she thought. _He would think of something._

But Robin was not there. He was crouching on a beam of the roof, trying to get a bird's eye view, or monkey's eye view in this case. He scanned the floor. Slade was nowhere to be seen, but there was one thing that caught his eye: a strangely familiar splotch of bright red.

Wade had been right in telling Kim about the fear and respect her costume would command. No one dared approach her. If she had wanted to, she could cut every line in the convention without receiving any complaints. Of course, that wasn't what she wanted to do. She was looking for a blue-faced madman, and having no luck so far. Wade, however, did not know that Madame Rouge had recently been frozen solid by the Teen Titans in Paris. Robin did.

He stayed where he was for a moment, calculating. Though Slade was his target, he had to know how Madame Rouge had escaped. If she was loose, the whole Brotherhood could be. Robin needed answers, but he couldn't just jump down and reveal himself. For one thing, it would blow his cover. For another thing, Madame Rouge had captured him before because of a few stupid mistakes, and he did not want to repeat that. If it hadn't been for the rest of the team, she would have frozen him forever.

He nimbly jumped down from the beam, landing on all fours. _Maybe if I just follow her, I'll find some clues_, Robin thought. He began to do just that, but from enough of a distance that she wouldn't see.

After a little while, Kim began to feel like she was being watched. She pulled out her makeup mirror and looked behind her. _That's odd_, she thought. _That is the biggest ninja monkey I have ever seen, and I haven't seen Monkey Fist anywhere_. Her eyes skimmed the crowd. _He probably is here somewhere. That monkey hasn't moved. Monkey Fist must be using it to track me_. She put away her mirror and ducked behind an incinerator cannon prototype.

Robbie the Ninja Monkey saw her do this, and followed close behind. He knew that using his utility belt would compromise the holographic simulator, so he prepared to fight hand to hand. Kim checked her mirror again. "Still behind me," she muttered. "I guess I'll have to take care of this the hard way."

Robin jumped onto the cannon, then down to land crouching right on top of "Madame Rouge". Kim shook him off and somersaulted a few feet further away. Before long, the two teen heroes were locked in a martial arts battle. Robin punched. Kim blocked. Robin kicked. Kim lunged to grab him. He grabbed a tray someone had brought from the food court and used it as a shield. Kim cartwheeled around him and hit him from behind. Robin ducked just in time and kicked her feet out from under her. She fell, but was quickly up again. Robin expected her to stretch out her arms and grab him, but she didn't. Instead, she pulled out a hair dryer, which shot out a grappling hook that she used to pull herself onto one of the roof beams to get away from him. Has she lost her powers? Robin wondered. Unable to use his own grappling hook, he leaped from the floor to the cannon, to the top of a nearby tank, to the nearest roof beam.

Somewhere around the mind control exhibit, Raven closed her eyes and focused on her center. Despite being surrounded by villains of all kinds of negative forces, Slade's personal energy was still faintly distinguishable. She felt his presence growing stronger as she walked toward a temporary wall leading to some kind of hidden room. She put her hand up to touch the wall and instantly felt the negative emotions that she had always identified with her team's arch nemesis. She pulled out her communicator, intending to alert Robin, but stopped when she heard voices talking on the other side of the wall. One was definitely Slade's, one sounded a little bit like Brother Blood's, though it clearly wasn't him, and the third voice was the voice of a woman. She turned off her holographic simulator rings and put away the communicator.

"I'm probably going to regret this," she figured. She transformed into her soul self and passed through the wall, sticking her hooded head out of a swirl of dark energy, grateful for the bad lighting.

Slade was indeed present. The voice that sounded curiously like Brother Blood's belonged to a funny-looking man with blue skin and a scar. The woman had faintly green skin, black hair, and an outfit of the same two colors. Raven listened intently to what they were saying.

"So will you accept my proposal?" Slade asked the blue man.

"Let me get this straight," Dr. Drakken replied. "If I prove myself by doing a few chores for you, you'll cut me in on your plans to take over the world?"

"I prefer to start with one city at a time," Slade corrected him, "but you basically have it. With enough success, I do not see why the world is not a possibility. However, this deal extends also to Miss Shego." Both of them looked at her with expectation.

"Well, glad to see somebody cares about my opinion for once," she said, crossing her arms. "I suppose I'm in. Your plans can't be any more stupid than what I've had to deal with before. I'm going to make a few things clear, though." She walked up to Slade and pointed one gloves finger at him. "I don't do clones, I don't do cakes, and I don't work for free."

"Naturally," Slade replied, a little taken aback by the fact that somebody actually dared tell him what to do, "you shall be well-rewarded for your efforts."

Raven noticed a paper being held in the blue man's hand. It appeared to be some kind of contract. It was too far away to read in such a dark room. She stretched her body out of her energy a little bit further. The words were still too small. Maybe if she just stretched a little further…

CRASH!

Raven dropped to the floor, feeling like she'd been hit with one of Starfire's starbolts. The green lady, Shego she assumed, was standing over her with a smirk on her face. "Is this one of those teenagers you were telling us about?"

"Ah, Raven, how good of you to come," Slade said. Raven could not see his face, but she could sense a big cloud of evil intent hovering just above him. "It's been awhile since we last had a chat, hasn't it? Look how much you've grown."

Raven put up a protective shield of energy around herself. "You're a fool, Slade. You won't get away with this. You never do."

"Is that a threat?" Slade shook his head in disapproval. "Like father, like daughter I suppose. Though, to be honest, I never really liked him either."

Raven's eyes glowed white. She dropped her shield and telepathically grabbed the contract out of Drakken's hand. Unfortunately, Shego was right there, hitting her with hands covered in what looked like green fire. Raven was able to block every hit with a black shield, but that didn't stop Drakken from ripping the contract out of her gray hand and hurrying to the exit with Slade and Shego close behind.

"No!" Raven yelled, shutting the door with her powers.

Then, something happened that nobody in that room could have expected.

Cyborg, no longer activating his Motor Ed costume, crashed through the door, yelling, "Get this rodent outa my gears!" Rufus continued squirming around and chewing all kinds of important pieces of Cyborg's machinery.

"Rufus! Help me!" Ron Stoppable yelled as he toppled over one of the temporary walls, still in costume, trying to avoid Beast Boy, who was still disguised as Gill and was trying to grab him. The changeling grabbed Ron's helmet.

"I got him, Cy! I got him!"

The helmet came off and Ron Stoppable kept running.

"I don't got him."

"See-more has face?" Cyborg asked, jumping up and down and trying to shake off the naked mole rat. He suddenly realized that Slade was standing in the shadows right next to them. "Yo, BB, don't move!"

He blasted his enemy, but a sudden bite in the wires from Rufus made him miss and hit Beast Boy, knocking off his holographic simulator rings and revealing him to be himself.

Shego had no clue who these kids were, but they were apparently enemies of her new ally, and that was all the explanation she needed. She fired her green glow at Cyborg, who ducked just in time, then shot his sonic blaster at her. She leaped away, simultaneously kicking Ron the floor with Beast Boy.

"Shego!" Drakken ordered, pointing to the open space where the temporary wall had fallen down. "Let's get out of here!"

The three villains ran towards it, only to crash into a wall of dark energy. They all turned back to look at Raven, who was levitating with her eyes bright white again. "Don't even think about it," she said, preparing to lift the wall back into place. "You three aren't going anywhere."

Slade took out his laser gun and was about to fire it at her, but was stopped when two more teen heroes crashed through the black force field, shattering it and knocking down Raven. Robbie the Ninja Monkey and Kim "Madame Rouge" Possible tumbled after each other. Kim tackled Robin, Robin kicked her off, and the two landed flat on their faces, breaking Robin's rings and knocking off Kim's wig to expose her bright red hair.

Robin looked up and saw the person he hated most standing over him. "Slade!" he exclaimed, getting up.

He was immediately knocked down by a stampede of fanboys following a familiar-looking blonde villainess.

"I am not the Adrena Lynn!" Starfire shouted, running as fast she could to avoid being buried alive. She couldn't take it anymore and shot two starbolts into the crowd, saying, "I apologize and I hope we may perhaps still be friends at another time!"

The bolts scattered the crowd, but knocked down the second temporary wall onto Starfire, who fell hard, though not at all injured, to the ground.

Slade was enjoying himself quite a bit. It wasn't every day he could see the Teen Titans make fools of themselves right in front of him. Unfortunately, he did have other things to do. "It's been nice seeing you again, but I am afraid I must depart. Shall we?" He beckoned to the other two villains.

"You think you're all that, Kim Possible…" Dr. Drakken began to say.

"Yadda yadda, we get it," Shego finished, grabbing his arm and pulling him after Slade. "Move!"

The three super villains ran away and jumped onto Slade's hovercraft, leaving the scene entirely, leaving seven teenagers and one naked mole rat staring at each and wondering what had just happened.


	4. Heroes and High Schoolers

**(A/N: Hey! I'm back! I'm trying to update more regularly now. Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, Kim Possible, or any other works I may reference.)**

The teenaged crime fighters stood up and looked at each other with confusion. Beast Boy was the first to speak. "Dude," was all he said.

"What just…happened?" Raven asked, pulling her hood back over her head.

"Wait, Motor Ed's a robot?" Ron asked, pointing his thumb at Cyborg.

"I'm only half robot," Cyborg corrected, holding up Rufus by his index finger and thumb, "and your little hairless rodent friend here nearly chewed up half my circuits."

Ron took Rufus from Cyborg. "For your information, he is a naked mole rat!"

"Yeah," Rufus huffed.

Starfire turned to Robin. "Robin, what is going on?"

"Slade got away," Robin replied. "No thanks to you," he said, turning to Kim.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked. "You attacked me!"

"You were dressed like Madame Rouge," Robin explained, doing a terrible job of staying calm, "a villain who we flash froze barely a month ago! You could have said something!"

"I thought you were working for one of my villains," Kim explained, also not remaining very calm. "I fought Monkey Fist only last week, and it seemed pretty likely that he'd be spying on me for revenge. You can't blame me for fighting back, Mr. Monkey Ninja."

"Kim," Ron said, looking very worried, "this guy is green, and the blue one looks like she wants to kill me."

"Raven pretty much wants to kill everyone," Beast Boy smiled, elbowing his cloaked companion good-naturedly. Raven sidestepped away.

Cyborg looked at Kim and Ron quizzically. "And what are y'all doing here anyway? You seem like good guys, but I thought we were the only good guys crashing this convention."

"I was going after my arch nemesis," Kim explained.

"Same here," Robin told her, his voice calmer but his face just as intense, the way it always was when he was thinking about Slade. "If you two hadn't been so distracting, we would have caught him by now."

"I could say the same to you," Kim said, crossing her arms.

A light bulb suddenly went off in Ron's head. Not a particularly bright light bulb, but a light bulb nonetheless. He grinned, eyes wide and walked over to Robin's side. "Do my eyes deceive me? It can't be, but it is!"

"What can't be?" Robin asked, a little bit creeped out.

"Robin the Boy Wonder? As in Batman and Robin? The Dynamic Duo?" He grabbed Robin's gloved hand and shook it. "It is an honor to meet you, sir."

"First of all, it's not Batman and Robin, it's just Robin." Robin finally pulled out of Ron's tight grip. "Second, please don't call me sir."

"You…know this guy?" Kim asked, surprised.

"KP, don't tell me you've never heard of the most famous sidekick ever!"

Robin winced. "Sidekick?"

Ron was elated. "Yeah! Man, we need to hang out sometime, sidekick to sidekick, partner to partner. This is huge! It's not often the second in command gets any respect, but I'll bet every one of the super villains you fight knows your name. I wish I could say the same, but I suppose 'Ron Stoppable' is kind of a mouthful."

Robin interrupted, "I'm not exactly a sidekick anymore."

Ron's shoulder slumped. "Aw, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I've been Kim's sidekick for years, get zero respect, and I'm okay with that. You just got to accept it…"

"Ron," Kim stopped him, sensing this was a sensitive topic. He shut his mouth. She began to speak to Robin now. "Your villain isn't the only one that got away. Ron and I were looking for ours when your team showed up dressed like our other villains. I don't think we're the only ones to blame here."

"Friends," Starfire said, speaking up for the first time, "please, you must not fight at your first meeting. This is merely a misunderstanding."

"Starfire's right," Raven said, stepping between Kim and Robin. "Arguing solves nothing. The facts are simple: both of our villains are working together, and both of them got away. We must accept it and move on."

"All right, I'll accept that," Ron said, "but what's all the green light and animals and robots and darkness and stuff?"

"Ever seen a superhero before?" Raven deadpanned.

"Superheroes? Badical!" Ron slapped Cyborg on the back. "The name's Ron Stoppable, and this is Kim Possible. She can do anything!" he announced with pride.

"We're the Teen Titans," Cyborg introduced. "I'm Cyborg, this is Beast Boy, the girl in the cloak is Raven, the alien is Starfire, and I think y'all have already met Robin."

Ron went down the line, slapping Cyborg again, high-fiving BB, slowly backing away from Raven, and waving at Starfire. "Check it out, KP, real superheroes!"

Kim was less impressed, remembering her last meeting with a superhero team. Team Go hadn't exactly been the most competent team in the world. They even talked directly to their main villain, some weirdo obsessed with birds, from headquarters so he could see everything. Talk about missing the obvious. She looked from Robin to the rest of the team. They seemed pretty serious. She decided to give them the benefit of the doubt, at least until she got to know them.

"So, the Teen Titans," she said, trying to be friendly. "I guess you're new in town. The blue guy who ran off with your arch nemesis was Dr. Drakken, a mad scientist trying to take over the world. The green woman was his sidekick, Shego."

"So who was the tin man?" Ron asked, jumping onto Kim's train of conversation.

"That was Slade," Robin replied, "a criminal mastermind who wants to destroy our city. He's cold, ruthless, and only cares about himself. We thought we'd stopped him, but after finishing a mission in Tokyo we heard he had returned and was back to his old habits."

"Okay…" Ron said, taking a step back. He turned to Starfire. "Is he usually this intense?"

"Whenever we speak of the Slade, yes," the alien princess answered with a hint of sadness.

"So if our bad guys are working together," Cyborg said, jumping into the conversation, "it looks like we're gonna need some help. What do you say to working together?"

Suddenly, an alarm went off in Kim's pocket. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and checked the time. "Shoot," she said, "the warning bell's about to ring. Sorry, Titans, I have a report due next period. We'll have to talk after school."

"School?" Robin repeated. He hadn't expected his two new allies to be ordinary high school students. Granted, he had been to high school during his time with the Batman, but it was more like a mask he wore to hide his secret identity. Kim and Ron were acting like honest, regular high school students.

"Aw, c'mon," Ron said, partially hiding behind Cyborg's large metal frame. "I'm sure we have a few minutes to spare to hang with these guys."

"You're not getting out of your _Hamlet_ test, Ron."

"Darn it." He slumped and dragged his feet over to Kim's side.

"We still need to exchange information about our villains," Robin told the redhead.

"Of course." She thought for a second. "There's a Bueno Nacho really close to Middleton High. Ron and I always hang out there after school. Do you think you can find it?"

Cyborg began pushing buttons on his computer arm. "Already searching locations."

"Meet us there around three o'clock," Kim directed, mostly speaking to Robin. She checked her Kimmunicator. "Sorry to run, but we'll be late if we talk any more. Let's go, Ron!" The two of them ran out of the convention center and hopped into Kim's purple car, beginning the drive straight to Middleton High School.

The Titans quickly got into the T-Car as well, not wanting to get attacked by the mob of angry Andrena Lynn fanboys who had begun to return to the scene of the chaos.

"So what is this Nacho of Bueno of which the other crime fighters spoke?" Starfire asked from the seat behind Robin.

"I don't know," Robin replied, "but it doesn't sound like any crime fighting headquarters I've ever heard of. There's something very strange about Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. They fight crime like we do, but they're different from us. Way different."

"I found Bueno Nacho," Cyborg said, looking at his arm, "and…it's a Mexican fast food place? Booyah! I like these kids' style!"

"Count me in!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "As long as they have vegetarian options, that is. Dude, why don't we have our headquarters at a fast food place?"

Robin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "We're going to discuss sensitive information about super villains in a Mexican fast food restaurant? They can't be serious."

"We don't have much of a choice, thought, do we?" Cyborg pointed out. He looked at the digital map on his arm. "It's not too far. We have a lot of extra time. What do you say we stop by SmartyMart and look at the electronics department? I've been meaning to update some of my equipment."

So the five teenaged superheroes sped off in the general direction of SmartyMart just as the mob of angry fanboys began to shout something about impostors.


	5. Mustard Nacos

The final bell for the day rang through the empty halls of Middleton High School, signaling every student to charge out of their class and make the halls considerably less empty. Kim Possible waded through the flood of teenagers until she located her locker, where Ron was waiting, as usual.

"Can you believe it, KP?" Ron asked, still thinking about what had happened during lunch. "We're going to hang with real live superheroes at our very own Bueno Nacho! Tell me you're not even a little bit excited."

Kim spun her locker combination into the lock. "Sure."

"Sure? That's it?"

"Well," she explained, "it isn't like we've never met superheroes before. They're just like us, Ron. The only difference is that four out of five have super powers and we don't."

"And secret identities," Ron added. "And cool costumes. And villains who remember their names."

"So what?" Kim asked, fishing out her math homework.

"So what?" Ron echoed, shocked. "So what? So everything! Do you know what it's like being a sidekick and getting zero respect for it?"

Kim shut her locker and picked up her backpack. "Um, I'm gonna say no."

"Exactly!" Ron exclaimed. "But I do! Nobody cares about the sidekicks. Nobody. Dr. Drakken still hasn't even figured out my name, and how long have we been fighting him? Years! But there is one sidekick that everybody's heard of: Robin the Boy Wonder."

"So you've been dying to meet him for some time then," Kim figured as the two began to walk away from her locker and down the hallway.

"Duh! He's the one sidekick anybody actually respects. He's the ultimate role model for the forgotten subordinate. And he's at Bueno Nacho! Our Bueno Nacho! With four other superheroes! How cool is that?"

He held open the door for her as the duo exited the main building of the school. Kim shrugged. "So not the drama, Ron. We're just exchanging information about our respective bad guys. It's not like this is a celebrity meet and greet."

"Okay," Ron sighed, "you go ahead and think that. But as for me, I cannot believe how awesome today is becoming!"

"I cannot believe how awesome today is becoming!" Beast Boy exclaimed inside of Bueno Nacho, looking at the menu above the counter. "Nacos? Nachos and tacos at the same time? Why has no one ever thought of this before? It's genius!"

"I'll say," Cyborg agreed, his mouth watering. "Man, we need to get one of these Bueno Nachos in Jump City. Seriously, who do I petition?"

The other three members of the team were seated in the largest booth. Raven was murmuring, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" over and over, trying to meditate. Robin was looking out the window anxiously for Team Possible, still not totally comfortable with the meeting location. Starfire had her head in a magazine she had bought during their SmartyMart stop.

"Hm…oh! Friend Raven! Observe!" Starfire shook Raven out of her trance and pulled her behind the magazine. "This magical booklet claims that it knows the secret of which stereotype of the high school I would best to fit in with!"

"_Find Out Your Crowd Quiz_," Raven read the title, unimpressed. "What is this?" She looked at the cover. "_Teen Glam_ magazine? You actually read this garbage?"

Starfire blushed, a little embarrassed. "It has many helpful hints about what articles of clothing are 'in', and tips about life in general. I read one once that claimed to know my IQ of embarrassment." She hastily shut the magazine and put it on the table. "I merely intended to keep up with the fads, Raven. Is this not what the normal teens do?"

"We're superheroes," Raven pointed out. "By definition we passed normal a long time ago."

Starfire looked down in disappointment. Ever since her arrival on earth, she had felt like she stuck out in a crowd. She was okay with being different, but she didn't like the feeling of not knowing what to say or do to fit in when she wanted to. She had been trying to pick up bits and pieces of earth teen culture wherever she could, but it never felt like it was working. Nobody looked at her like a monster the way they had when she first came to earth, but people still stared at her like she was some kind of orange-skinned, green-eyed freak. She was grateful that at least her teammates didn't mind her awkwardness too much. Still, it was hard to even go to the mall without someone being shocked at her choice of mustard as a beverage or laughing at her misunderstanding of common teen slang. Thinking about mustard reminded her of something.

"Robin?" she asked.

"Yes?" he turned his head away from the window.

She held out her hand to him. Inside were three miniature mustard packets from the condiment area next to the soda fountain. "Why is the mustard in such a small container? One cannot fit a straw into it, and it is too miniscule to make for a sizeable beverage."

Robin tried to explain it without embarrassing her again. "Um…well…that is…not everybody drinks mustard. Most people don't. A lot of people actually put it on top of other foods to make them taste better. You're supposed to squeeze the little packets of mustard onto something else, like a hot dog."

Fortunately, he did not need to explain hot dogs to her. Unfortunately, this was because she had made the entire team watch a documentary about hot dog ingredients once that still gave Beast Boy nightmares. Somehow, Raven's insistence that no human being would eat a bright green hot dog did not console him.

"Oh," Starfire replied, understanding better now. She looked at the mustard packets for a second, then ripped them all open and squeezed them into her cup. She grabbed a few more and continued the process until it was three-quarters full, then stuck in a bendy straw and slurped to her heart's content.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Raven muttered before shutting her eyes and continuing her mantra.

She was interrupted almost immediately by Beast Boy shouting, "Teen Titans, may I introduce to you, the Naco!" Cyborg shoved a tray of five Nacos onto the table and the two of them slid into the booth.

"Nacos?" Robin repeated, looking at the concoction questioningly. "A taco and nachos?"

"Genius, isn't it?" Cyborg grinned. "There's one for everybody, so chow down!" He grabbed one and began to munch on the cheesy mess.

"They're almost too beautiful to eat," Beast Boy said, wiping a tear from his eye before stuffing his mouth with his Naco.

Raven looked at her Naco, then at Beast Boy and Cyborg, disgusted. "Now I really am sick."

Robin picked up his Naco and took a bite, trying not to get gooey cheese all over his green gloves. "Mm…actually, they're not too bad. Starfire, you should try it."

Starfire was unsure of what to make of the mass of cheese, chips, and tortilla in front of her. Not wanting to disappoint Robin, or be the odd one out again, she picked it up and prepared to take a bite. Just before it reached her mouth, she stopped.

"Robin, you say that the mustard is often utilized as a condiment?"

"Yes," he said, swallowing a bite of Naco.

This was it. A perfect chance to show that she had been learning to follow earth culture. She grabbed five packets of mustard and squeezed them all over her Naco, then devoured the whole thing in two sloppy bites.

"That's it. I'm out of here," said Raven, getting up from her seat at the edge of the booth. "Star can have mine. I'm waiting for those two at the curb where I don't have to watch you all eat." She pushed open the door and stepped out.

Robin put down his Naco to check the time on his communicator. "It's three on the dot. They should be here any second." He looked around uneasily. There were only a few customers in the restaurant, but the afterschool crowd would be showing up any second. "As much as I appreciate these Nacos, I have to wonder about this location. Slade is serious business. There could be confidential information involved. This doesn't seem like a safe headquarters, or a headquarters at all."

"Chill, man," Cyborg suggested, now finished with eating. "This is just what you need to get your brain off of that Slade craze you slip into."

"Please, Robin," Starfire agreed, pausing the drowning of her second Naco in mustard to put her hand on his shoulder. "Cyborg is correct. You have great need of the relaxation. It is unhealthy for you to become so concerned about Slade."

"Well," Robin admitted, "I guess it is good to try new things sometimes." He slipped his arm around Starfire's waist and looked into her emerald green eyes, still finding it hard to believe that their adventure in Tokyo had been a whole month ago. It felt like just yesterday that he had been a stuttering idiot, trying to explain to Star that he didn't mind so much being "more the heroes", that he in fact wanted to be "more than heroes". He had honestly expected her to refuse him after all he had put her through, but by some miracle she had understood completely.

Starfire gave her boyfriend a quick squeeze and pulled out of his arm with a happy giggle. "I…um…have need of more mustard," she said, sliding out of the booth with a smile.

"Dude," Beast Boy said as soon as she was out of earshot, "get a room."

"More like get a date!" Cyborg interjected. "You two have been together for a whole month, and you still haven't taken Star out on a real date. It's getting ridiculous. Are even trying to be a good boyfriend?"

Robin stopped staring at Starfire being adorably confused at the condiment selection to glare at Cyborg. "I meant to ask her out after Tokyo, but then we heard Slade was back in Jump City. Since then, I've been a little busy. As soon as we stop him, I'll take her on the best date of her life."

"You'd better," Cy pointed his finger at the Boy Wonder as a warning just before Starfire returned with her hands full of more mustard. The drowning of the Naco recommenced.

The door of Bueno Nacho swung open as Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable entered the building. Behind them, Raven followed, her feet barely touching the ground and her hood hiding her face in shadow. The three of them found the others and slid into the booth.

"Hi," Kim said, addressing the superheroes. "So you're the Teen Titans, right?"

"Yes, we are," Robin replied. "We're from Jump City."

"So Batman moved?" Ron asked, trying to ignore the mustard-covered Naco sitting next to him that was practically sacrilege in his mind.

Robin glared at Ron. "I. Am. Not. With. Batman."

"Batman aside," Kim continued, "we need the down low on your Slade guy now that he's working with Drakken. Do you know what he's after?"

"We stopped him from stealing a test tube of highly experimental xenothium ore earlier today," Robin added. "Is there a way he can get any here?"

Kim thought for a moment. "I don't know, but I know who would. My dad's a rocket scientist. If he doesn't know the local xenothium sources, he probably knows someone who does. We'll have to ask him about it. So what else do you know about Slade?" Kim asked.

Robin looked around nervously. The restaurant was beginning to fill up with newly freed high schoolers munching on their Nacos. "Um…is this the right place to talk about it?"

Ron looked like he had been personally insulted. "Why wouldn't it be? Is this not the most perfect place ever? Please tell me you've tried the Naco."

"We all did," Cyborg told him, "and it was unbelievable."

"Yes, they were quite glorious!" Starfire smiled before filling her ninth stomach with the last bite of her mustard-covered Naco. Raven retreated further into her hood.

"The Nacos were great," Robin said, "but do you really think this is the right place to talk about super villains? Anyone could hear what we're saying."

_This guy is so full of drama_, Kim thought. "No one's listening to us," she assured him. "This is where I talk about my missions all the time. So is Slade into the whole 'take over the world' thing?"

"Usually he just tries to take over the city," Cyborg answered, now fully serious. "One time he succeeded, and it cost us a teammate. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he does want to take over the world, but just wants to start small and grow from there."

"So what's the deal with your blue guy?" Raven asked Kim.

"Dr. Drakken wants to take over the world," Kim explained. "He hasn't had much success yet, thanks to us. He's an evil genius and a criminal mastermind, and he's pretty handy at building doomsday devices. He's bad news, but the really evil one is his sidekick, Shego. She's a better fighter, and way more ruthless."

"You see," Ron pointed out to Robin. "Sidekicks can be cool. There is nothing wrong with…"

"Ron," Kim interrupted.

"Sorry, KP. Continue."

"As I was saying," Kim said, "it sounds like with Slade's drive for evil combining with Drakken's brain power and Shego's ruthlessness, we're up against a pretty huge threat. If we're going to take them down, we'll need to work together, as one team."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Robin chimed in. "What do you say, Titans?"

The other team members assented in their various ways.

"Ron?" Kim asked her sidekick.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I want to work with these guys!" Ron was elated. Now was his chance to work side by side with his sidekick role model and four other superheroes. Chances like this didn't happen every day.

Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. "Great! I'll have Wade start locating Drakken, Slade, and Shego, and then we can head over to my house and see what my dad knows."

She turned around the blue device to that Wade and the Titans could see each other. Wade nearly spat out his soda. "Kim, who are these people?"

"We're the Teen Titans," Beast Boy said, puffing up with pride. "Superheroes extraordinaire."

"Drakken's anonymous contact is apparently their arch nemesis," Kim explained to the miniature computer genius. "I need you to start tracking Drakken, Shego, and somebody from Jump City named Slade. Also, have you ever heard of xenothium?"

"Hm…xenothium…" Wade pondered. "Nope, not ringing any bells. Wait! Isn't that the red stuff that nobody's supposed to touch outside of a lab?"

"Pretty much," Raven said.

"Find out everything you can about it," Kim commanded.

"On it!" Wade said, signing off to start his research.

Kim tucked her Kimmunicator back into her pocket. "Let's head over to my place and talk to my dad. If there's any xenothium in Middleton, he'll know about it."

The other six teens followed Kim out to her purple car. She opened the door and asked Cyborg, "Think you can follow us over?"

"In the T-Car?" the half-robot laughed. "You bet!" He clicked a button on a small remote. The T-Car beeped and pulled up next to him.

Kim and Ron stared at the suped-up automobile. _The tweebs are going to be all over that_, Kim thought. "Okay," she said as the Titans took their seats. "Then let's go!" She started her engine and pulled out of the parking lot, turning left toward home. The T-Car stayed right behind her all the way until she pulled into her own driveway.


	6. An Evil Team

**(A/N: We'll get back to the good guys in a second. Let's see what the bad guys have up their sleeves...)**

While the Titans and Team Possible drove through Middleton, Slade's hovercraft landed just outside of Dr. Drakken's evil lair. "A bit…conspicuous, isn't it?" Slade asked his new ally, observing the hilltop location. The tall buildings stood out rather obviously, though they were difficult to reach without a hovercraft of some kind. Drakken led him and Shego inside to the main control room. "It does have a sinister feeling to it, though, and the fact that it has not been destroyed yet speaks volumes."

"Emphasis on yet," Shego commented.

Dr. Drakken, who was anxious to impress his new guest, snapped at his green sidekick. "Shego! Why don't you go make yourself useful and take notes? We have plans to make!"

He threw Shego a notebook and pencil. She caught them instantly and settled herself down in a chair, propping her feet up and examining her nails. "I'll take notes when something worth noting happens," she said, bringing out her nail file that she always kept handy.

"Heh," Drakken said sheepishly to his other partner. "I'm sorry you'll have to deal with her little…attitude. She does make a great sidekick in combat, I assure you."

"Says the doofus who has never won a solo fight in his life," Shego butted in. "If I wasn't saving your butt so often…"

"SHEGO!"

"Right, right, taking notes." She tossed the nail file to the side and prepared to follow orders.

Slade's deep, sinister voice echoed through the empty room. "As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted by our mutual enemies, my proposition is simple. Because I have a poor history with apprentices in the past, I shall have you each perform a task for me. If you succeed, I shall allow you into my partnership as we take over the world, one city at a time. I have been observing you for some time, Doctor, and also Miss Shego."

Shego stood up and walked between the two super villains. "Whoa there, mister. Let's rewind that. You mean to say you've been stalking me?"

"Stalking is not the word I would use," Slade said. "It was necessary to be certain of the characters I would be dealing with. Like I said, I have a poor history with apprentices."

"Go on," Drakken told him, pushing Shego back to her chair. "And stay there," he whispered.

She threw a shot of green glowing energy at his head, missing on purpose so that it would only singe his hair. He yelped and ran behind Slade. Shego put on her most innocent face, which wasn't very innocent, and began taking notes like a good little sidekick.

"Interesting team dynamic you two have," Slade commented.

Drakken took a couple steps away from his human shield, now that it appeared the threat was gone. "She'll grow on you, you'll get used to it."

"Grow on you? Ugh!" she muttered from her seat. "Sounds like I'm some kind of fungus."

"I have," Slade continued, as though no interruption had occurred, "seen all of your latest designs, Doctor. Despite their constant failure, you do have a knack for technological experiments." Drakken pretended he understood what the man in metal was saying, when in reality his vocabulary skills were quite inferior to Slade's. "Your experiments with artificial life have been especially interesting. The Synthodrones specifically impressed me the most. So lifelike, so convincing, and yet completely under your own control."

Drakken was not used to such a compliment. The only person who usually said anything to him about his inventions was Shego, and if she was saying something nice, she was almost certainly being sarcarstic. "Why thank you," he stuttered. "I…I do try my best."

"Ha!" Shego exclaimed from her seat, briefly interrupting her doodle of Dr. Drakken's pants catching on fire.

Slade spoke again, "Shego has done magnificently as a thief for you, as well as a fighter and assistant. I have had the good fortune to observe many of her break-ins and battles with Team Possible." He turned his head to speak to her now. "You are ruthless, cunning, and deceitful in the best way, my dear. You remind me of myself a bit."

Shego put her legs down and sat up straight, blushing a little bit. No one could really see the blush, of course, thanks to the perks of having green skin. "Wow. Uh, I mean, thanks Mr…"

"Slade. Just Slade will do," he replied. "I think we can be on a first name basis now. Anyway, to best fit your talents, I have a challenge for each of you to fulfill. Succeed, and we shall work as partners in evil. My nemeses are the Teen Titans. I believe you've met. I once had a whole army of robot henchmen to carry out my plans. Thanks to those meddling teenagers I have none left and have been forced to do everything myself. Dr. Drakken, your challenge is to build me a prototype from which to create a new army of henchmen that the Titans cannot defeat."

"Is that all?" Drakken laughed. "Not to brag, but I design new robots in my sleep."

"Excellent," Slade said slowly, rubbing his hands together in the most menacing way.

That was when Shego noticed something odd about the situation. She stood up and walked up to the two men with one hand on her hip. "Okay, buddy, what's the catch?" she asked Slade.

"What catch?" he replied, his one eye narrowing.

"Don't play dumb with me," she said, the hand not on her hip lighting up. "You waltz into our secret headquarters and start telling us what to do like you're the boss, and you honestly expect me to think you'll just hand over the reins once we've done a couple chores for you? It seems to me like you're more interested in having henchmen than partners."

"Smart girl," he said. Though she could not see his mouth, Shego thought she could hear a smile in his voice. "I always thought so about you. You can see through everything, can't you?" By now, she wasn't sure if he was being honest or making fun of her. The mask kept that a secret. "I can understand your concern, Shego, but I assure you that this shall be an even give-and-take relationship for all three of us. We all need each other's skills to succeed together."

"Precisely!" Drakken interjected, feeling a bit left out of the conversation.

"Besides," he continued, "if I wanted henchmen, as you say, would I have invited on this team the one woman I can count on to disobey her master's orders?"

Her glowing hand went back to normal. "You've got a point there, Slade," she admitted, feeling kind of flattered, "but I've got one more question."

"And that is?"

"What's your job for me?"

Slade led her aside while Drakken turned on the giant computer screen. "There is a highly dangerous chemical I need to power my ultimate design. I need as large a quantity as possible. Thanks to the Titans, I have not been able to get my hands on more than a small sample for long. The chemical is called xenothium. Have you heard of it?"

"Hm…" she pondered his words, "…xenothium…I think Dr. D tried to use that stuff once. It's that red glowy stuff nobody's supposed to use outside of a lab, right?"

"Exactly. I need it. I need you to find it, and I need you to steal it for me."

"That's it?" she asked, disgusted. "A little robbery while Dr. D builds you a robot army?"

"Trust me," he told her, "you will find it very challenging. I expect a few heroes to meet you there."

Shego tossed her hair. "Heroes? Like they stand a chance!"


	7. The Possible Family

"Kimmie, you know how I feel about circus people in the house," Mr. Dr. Possible said, crossing his arms and frowning in the kitchen doorway.

Kim, Ron, and the Teen Titans had just seated themselves around the Possible kitchen table. Kim had called her father down as soon as they had found enough chairs. Her father was not at all amused to see so many strangely dressed 'circus people' in his kitchen.

"What's wrong with circus people?" Robin asked, feeling a little bit offended.

"Dad," Kim explained, "they're not circus people. They're superheroes. Their arch nemesis just teamed up with Dr. Drakken and we need to work together to save the world."

The rocket scientist looked questioningly at each Titans, then back at his daughter. "Are you sure they're superheroes? They look like show people to me."

"Dad, I assure you they are essential to my mission," Kim told him, pulling out another chair. "We actually needed to ask you something."

He sat down, keeping a wary eye on the "circus people". He looked from Robin to Starfire, to Raven, to Beast Boy, to Cyborg. Suddenly, something caught his eye. "Huh," he said. He put up a hand to block half of his vision, making only the human half of Cyborg's face visible. He dropped his hand and smiled.

"Victor? Is that you?" he asked the half robot.

Cyborg was surprised. It had been a long time since somebody had called him by his real name. "Um…yeah. Do we know each other?"

"You know him?" Kim asked, just as surprised.

Dr. Possible laughed. "It's been a long time. You were barely Jim and Tim's size when I last saw you, but I'd know that face anywhere. I knew your parents for years. I actually worked with them on a few projects at STAR Labs. They gave me a call whenever they were stuck, or just to keep in touch." His face became serious. "I heard about your accident, but I didn't know it was so…so…"

"Permanent?" Cyborg suggested.

"Yeah," Kim's dad said. "But hey, it looks like you've adapted well enough."

"Mostly," Cyborg admitted.

Suddenly, two miniature rockets, one red and one green, zoomed into the kitchen. The red one took a dive toward Raven. A black force field deflected it to Ron. He ducked, but Rufus somehow flew out of his pocket and landed on the rocket. Panicking, the hairless rodent jumped off just before it crashed into the sink.

The green rocket sped toward the window with enough force to break the glass. Kim jumped out of her seat, grabbed a frying pan and smacked it onto the ground, where it landed in pieces. "Tweebs!" she yelled.

Two brunette heads stuck out of the doorway. "Hey!" the boy in the red shirt exclaimed. "Those were ours!"

"No fair!" said the boy in the green shirt.

Dr. Possible stood up. "Jim, Tim," he said to the twin brothers, "you know your mother and I don't like it when you fly rockets in the house. Somebody could get hurt."

"Or something," Kim added, handing the tweebs their broken rockets. "This is the third time this week you nearly broke a window. Can't you be like normal brothers and throw a ball around in the yard or something?"

"Oh sure," Jim said sarcastically, "because you're a normal sister."

"Yeah," Tim joined in, "Miss 'Basic Average Girl.'"

Starfire perked up. "Miss…what?" she asked.

"She's your basic average girl," said Jim.

"And she's here to save the world," Tim finished.

"But you can't stop her," Jim added.

"Why?" Starfire asked.

"Cause she's Kim…"

"Poss-"

"-i-"

"-ble!"

"Ignore the tweebs," Kim said, nudging her brothers out of the kitchen, then out of the house. "They're weird. So, so, so weird."

Starfire however looked at Kim in a different light. The only girls she had known very well on earth had been other superheroes. She had long wanted a friend who could teach her how to fit in like an ordinary earth teen. If Kim Possible was really "your basic average girl", then perhaps she had finally found what she was looking for!

Once the tweebs were properly dealt with, Kim turned to her father. "Dad, we think Drakken might be after a chemical called xenothium. Are there any potential sources in Middleton?"

"Hm…" he thought, trying to remember. "That stuff's pretty dangerous. I rarely even get to work with it. Nope, not in Middleton. We haven't tried to use xenothium here in years. Unless…"

"Unless what?" asked Robin, leaning in.

"My old friend Professor Ramesh mentioned being aware of a xenothium experiment recently," he explained. "I'll get him on the phone. Then you and your super friends can ask him where to expect Drew."

"Drew?" the Titans repeated.

"Drew Lipsky. It's Drakken's real name," Kim told them. "Dad knew him in college."

"So your dad knows Cyborg and his parents, Professor Ramesh, and Dr. Drakken?" Beast Boy asked. "Dude, is there anybody he doesn't know?"

Before Kim or her father could answer, the tweebs stuck their heads back into the room. "Hey Kim!" they said in unison.

"I'm a little bit busy now," she told them. "Can't you two play in the yard or something?"

"We were," said Jim.

"But then we were wondering…" said Tim.

"…because there's this awesome car in the driveway…"

"…could we maybe take it apart?"

"Just for fun?"

"We'll put it back together!"

Cyborg stood up. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about the T-Car, would you?"

Sensing that they were about to get in big trouble, Jim and Tim began to walk backwards out of the kitchen. "It was Jim's idea," Tim said, pointing at his brother.

"Yeah," Jim said, "but we didn't do anything yet. I told him we had to ask first."

"We were going to put it back together, I swear!" Tim insisted.

"NOBODY TAKES APART MY BABY!" Cyborg yelled, chasing the boys out of the house and out into the yard. The twins ran for their lives onto the lawn with Cyborg close behind, angry at the very suggestion of somebody taking apart his baby.

The others watched anxiously from the kitchen window. "Shouldn't we stop him before he hurts somebody?" Ron asked.

Robin took out his communicator to call his friend, but before he could do so, all of the Titans' communicators began beeping a familiar tune. "Trouble," he said, opening his. "It's Doctor Light. He broke into the back vault again."

"Again?" Beast Boy groaned. "Can't villains stay in jail these days?"

"Can't banks invest in better security systems?" Raven added.

"Sorry," Robin told Kim and Ron, "but we have a duty to our city. We have to go back to stop Doctor Light."

"Look, Robin," Kim said sternly, "I get that you need to catch other bad guys, but my dad is calling Professor Ramesh right now. We could have Drakken and Slade behind bars any second. Doesn't Jump City have police to take care of this guy?"

Raven frowned at her communicator. "Police? Yes. Capable of catching Doctor Light? Unfortunately no. It looks like he got his light suit an upgrade or two."

Kim wasn't so sure about these superheroes. A light suit didn't even sound scary, and was a bank robbery really of equal importance as saving the world from the combined forces of Dr. Drakken and Slade? She didn't think so.

Kim and Ron saw the Titans to their car. Cyborg was already inside, and the tweebs were standing a safe distance away, though clearly still enamored with the T-Car.

Starfire stood outside of the car and turned to Kim. "So, are you truly the 'basic average girl'?"

That was not a question Kim had been expecting. "Well…I guess so. I'm not anything too out of the ordinary."

Ron clarified, "She's as basic and average as a straight-A cheerleader who saves the world can be."

"Come on, Star! We've got to go!" Beast Boy turned into a squid and pulled her into the T-Car with one of his arms.

Robin rolled down the window of his shotgun seat. He handed Kim an extra Titans communicator. "This gives you access to all of our communicators. If you hear anything about Slade, give us a call."

The T-Car sped away toward Jump City. It was a fairly long distance to drive, but when Cyborg kicked his baby into high gear, he could cut the time of a regular car on the same route in half. The tweebs, having thoroughly inspected the T-Car before asking to take it apart, were well aware of this and watched in awe as it drove away.

"So beautiful," Jim whispered.

"We really need to update your car," Tim told Kim with several specific ideas in mind.

Ron had another issue on his mind. "Booyah! KP, do you realize what that communicator means? It's the equivalent of having Robin and the other Titans on speed dial!"

She looked at the communicator. Compared to her Kimmunicator, it wasn't too impressive to look at. "Ron, you do realize we save the world, like, every week. The Titans aren't as big a deal as you're making them out to be. They're not any more special than we are."

"Except they're super," he reminded her.

"We'll call them if we need backup," she told him as they walked back into the house, putting the Titans communicator into her pocket.

Back in the house, Mr. Dr. Possible had the phone to his ear and motioned for Kim and Ron to be quiet. They sneaked past him to another room. "Professor Ramesh?" he said to the phone. "Hey! How are things? Long time, no see...Yes, yes, I'm fine...I was wondering if you knew about a chemical called xenothium...yeah, that one...I understand, but this is important. It's for Kim...Of course, but as I understand it, someone's looking to steal it and Kimmie needs to stop them...Top secret? Good...No, I won't tell anyone but Kimmie...Really? Well, thanks a million, Professor Ramesh. See you at the reunion!" He hung up and called, "Kimmie! I know where to find the xenothium!"


	8. Meanwhile at Titans Tower

Shego looked at the things Slade held out to her. "Look, slick, I appreciate the thought, but I've done this, like, a billion times without…whatever this is." She picked up a grappling hook gun and twirled it in her hand three hundred sixty degrees before setting it back down next to the exploding disc with Slade's "S" symbol on it.

"I am well aware of your capabilities, Shego," Slade responded, "but I have reason to believe you will be up against greater odds than usual."

She shrugged. "All right, Mr. Mysterious, but I doubt I'll actually have to use these. It's just a little xenothium." She looked the tools over again. "They don't happen to come in green, do they?"

Back in Jump City, the Titans finished hunting down Doctor Light and returned to Titans Tower. "Man," Cyborg said to Beast Boy when they reached the common room, "you know that corner that used to be Raven's favorite bookstore?"

"You mean the one that used to be next to the electronics store where they're building that new shopping center?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah, that one. Wouldn't that be the perfect place for a Bueno Nacho? We could get Nacos after missions sometimes instead of pizza, just to switch things up."

"Oh no," Raven grimaced. "You are not replacing my bookstore with some greasy fast food place."

Beast Boy crossed his arms and leaned into Raven's personal space. "You're just saying that because you were too chicken to try a Naco." He turned into a green chicken and squawked at her to get his point further across. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten Raven's allergies to chicken feathers and therefore hatred of the species in general. She felt absolutely no qualms while telepathically picking up the green chicken and throwing him against the wall.

Beast Boy morphed back into his human shape, rubbing his head. "Ow! Seriously, Raven? It's just nachos in a taco, not like any of the alien food Star's made us eat."

"How can any of you think about food at a time like this?" Robin scowled, taking his seat at the computer. "Slade's on the loose, he has a new alliance, and we're as far from stopping him as when we left this morning."

As if on cue, the giant screen buzzed to life revealing Slade's masked face. "Good evening, Robin," he said, slightly condescendingly.

"Slade," the Teen Wonder answered, his masked eyes narrowing. "What do you want?"

"Many things," Slade replied. "At the moment I want to share some information that I am sure you will find useful. It's almost shameful how badly you need a hint. You really have been going soft."

"What are you planning?" Robin demanded, slamming his fist down and gritting his teeth.

Starfire saw this and involuntarily sucked in her breath. She took a step forward toward Robin, trying not to look too scared in front of the enemy. Slade was starting to mess with Robin's head again, which had her worried. Nothing good could come from this.

"Patience, Robin," Slade told him. "I merely thought that the Titans would like to know that a large quantity of xenothium is going to be stolen from the chemical factory in Upperton."

"By you?" Cyborg asked, taking a step forward. "Or by one of your new friends?"

"The clock is ticking, Robin," Slade continued, ignoring Cyborg's question. "Time is running out. I'm sure you would hate to be responsible for letting a thief get away with all that xenothium."

"Nobody's getting away with anything," Robin said. He could feel his hatred for Slade starting to come out. _Pull it together_, he told himself silently.

"We shall see about that," Slade said enigmatically. "If I were you, I wouldn't wait around for the robbery to happen."

Raven crossed her arms. "So why are you giving us the tip?" she asked, her voice full of suspicion.

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, scratching his green head. "What's in this for you?"

"Just being helpful," Slade said. "Is it so shocking that I would give a hint to a former apprentice of mine?" His one eye stared down at Robin.

That remark really hurt him. He clenched one hand into a fist until the knuckles were white. Starfire gently placed her hand on top of his fist. The two of them looked at each other. Neither said a word, but they didn't need to. _I need to get in control_, Robin thought. He relaxed his fist and let his hand drop to his side. "I'm nobody's apprentice anymore," he said calmly. "Since you're being so generous with the clues today, do you happen to know when the robbery will be taking place?"

"It won't be long now," his arch nemesis replied. "If you don't want the theft of a large quantity of a very dangerous chemical, I would suggest you start moving. Tick tock, Robin." The screen went black with those last taunting words.

"So…what do we do?" Beast Boy asked Robin.

"The only thing we can do," Robin replied. "We have to go to Upperton and stop whichever criminal is going to steal the xenothium."

Raven floated over to the smaller computer screens on the other wall and started looking for the Upperton chemical factory. Starfire thought for a second. "But Robin," she said, "would Slade truly divulge such information about himself or an ally?"

"Yeah, man," said Cyborg, "this feels like a trap. I mean, you know Slade can't be trusted."

Beast Boy suddenly jumped between Cyborg and Robin. "Dudes, I got it! It's so obvious that it's a trap, that Slade knows we'll think it's a trap, so we won't go for it, but it isn't really a trap at all! Unless…it might be a trap anyway because he'll think that we'll think it's not a trap because it's such an obvious trap that it will be a trap so it's a trap trap."

Raven broke the following awkward silence. "I have no idea what Beast Boy just said, but I found the factory in Upperton." She pressed a few buttons on a screen and zoomed in on an image of a map.

"Huh," said Cyborg. "Looks like Upperton is just north of Middleton."

"No kidding," Raven said sarcastically.

"Perhaps we should contact the Kim Possible and the Ron Stoppable for assistance if it is so near to their location," Starfire suggested.

Robin took out his communicator, hesitated, then put it back. "Slade is our villain, our responsibility. It might be dangerous to bring someone new into our fight with him."

"But she's already in it!" Cyborg protested. "And her bad guys are helping him!"

"I know," said Robin, "but she doesn't know Slade. I'm sure she's capable of great things, but she isn't a superhero. She's a normal teenage girl. The last time we brought a new girl into our fight with Slade, everything went wrong." Beast Boy's gaze dropped to the floor. He knew Robin was talking about Terra. "Besides, Slade came to us, not her. If this really is a trap, I wouldn't want both the Titans and Team Possible caught in it if they don't have to be." The team still didn't look completely convinced. "We'll call her if we need backup," he added.

The team still wasn't totally convinced that leaving Kim out was a good idea, but they also knew that when Robin was in Slade mode, not even his friends could stop him. Cyborg broke the silence. "All right, y'all heard the man. The robbery could be any second now, so we gotta take the T-Ship. Come on!" The Titans boarded the T-Ship and sped off to Upperton.

**(A/N: So who is Slade tricking? The Titans? Shego? Everyone? And both Robin and Kim say they'll call the others "for backup"? I wonder how this is going to go...Next update probably later today, maybe tomorrow. It's a long one.)**


	9. Shego's Challenge

Shego was inside the Upperton chemical factory building, looking at an armed security guard standing between her and the door to the xenothium's location. She had already melted the locks on a few doors with her powers, shut down two alarms systems, and avoided three other guards completely. This one, however, she could not avoid if she wanted to get that chemical.

Hiding around the corner, she did her best impression of another guard. "Hey! I think there's something over here!" she called. She threw a green blast at the floor further down the hallway so that it exploded in a cloud of smoke. The guard instantly ran toward the explosion. Shego jumped out and zapped him with just enough green energy to knock him out, then picked him up and dragged him over to the hand scanner by the door. She placed his hand on the red scanner.

"Identity recognized. Access granted."

The thick metal door slid open and Shego dropped the guard. Inside was a network of lasers. A large crate of xenothium was against the laser-free back wall of the room. The lasers could be turned off by remote control, but only scientists working directly with the xenothium had access to the remote controls, so she couldn't steal one off the guard. There was, however, a place to scan an ID card on the other side of the laser-filled room that could shut them down. _Kid stuff_, Shego thought.

She flipped a series of somersaults and handsprings until she was through the lasers, where she slid the guard's ID card into a black box that shut down them off. "Some high tech security system," she said smugly, ready to get her hands on her prize.

"It is pretty impressive, isn't it?" asked a familiar voice. Shego looked up and saw Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable standing on top of the crate.

Shego's hands lit up. "Nice to see you again, princess. If you don't mind, that crate has my name on it."

"Funny," said Kim, glaring, "I didn't see it." Shego threw a handful of green fire at Kim, who nimbly ducked, then jumped down. A martial arts battle began. Shego's fiery hands gave her an advantage, but it was far from enough to get past the teen hero. Several kung fu moves later, the villainess managed to kick Kim aside and rush for the crate. As soon as she grabbed it, Ron jumped in her way.

"Bet you forgot about me, huh?" he said.

"Yeah," she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, "thanks for the reminder." She easily threw him into the air so that he crashed into Kim, who had been making a run for Shego.

"Whoa! Oof!" The duo landed on the floor. "Sorry, KP."

"No big," she said, pushing him up to his feet. "Just get that crate!"

Shego by now had picked up the wooden box of forbidden chemicals and was running away, a huge smirk on her face. She threw Slade's exploding disc at the ceiling. It left a gaping hole. "Next time, Kimmie," she said, holding the crate with one hand and shooting the grappling hook up with another.

She expected it to latch onto the roof, but it suddenly went tight, then dropped back down as if someone had thrown it back. A green pterodactyl dove down through the hole carrying a half electronic man, followed by a beautiful space alien carrying a spikey-haired earth boy and a levitating girl whose entire body was hidden under her dark blue cloak.

"Nice try," said Robin once Starfire had put him down, "but the only place you're going is prison."

Shego made a time-out sign. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm sorry but seriously, who are you?"

"We are the Teen Titans!" Starfire said, her eyes glowing green.

The statement had no effect on Shego's composure. "Sheesh, what is it with teenagers and crime fighting these days?" she asked, sounding very annoyed.

Kim just looked at the Titans in shock. Ron came up to her. "So…you did call for backup?"

"No," she said, confused. "They're just…here. I was planning to take Shego on our own. She is our villain after all."

Meanwhile, Shego was in a hurry to leave. "Catch you later, kids," she said, shooting the grappling hook again.

This time, she made it halfway up with the crate in her arm before Cyborg jumped out of Beast Boy's grip, colliding with her and knocking her to the ground weaponless. Before the crate could smash on the ground, Raven grabbed it with her dark energy and set it down softly as far from Shego as possible. Shego ran away from Cyborg but was tackled by Robin and his bo staff. They commenced fighting the way the villainess had been fighting with Kim only a few minutes ago. After going hand to hand for a while, he hit her with his bo staff. A shot of green flame broke it in half on the floor. He stopped short, surprised. She took advantage of this and threw another exploding disc his way. While Robin coughed in the smoke cloud, Shego ran the other way, pursued by Starfire.

Shego dodged starbolts right and left. The alien princess continued her pursuit from the air. She paused midflight for a second and released two lines of green energy from her glowing green eyes. Just before it could get to Shego, the green woman grabbed Ron, who had been standing there watching the fight with great interest, and thrust him in front of her. Starfire tried to stop, but before she could, Ron was knocked unconscious on the floor.

"Ron!" Kim called, running to him. Starfire too dropped to the ground beside him.

"Friend!" she said. "Are you injured? I apologize, it was an accident…"

Ron blinked and sat up with Kim's help. "Aw man, not again."

"Again?" Starfire and Kim both echoed, looking at each other, then back at Ron. Starfire had never shot him before. She had never even fought him before. Maybe the fall had messed with his brain.

"Yeah, Shego really packs a punch," he said. "Yo, Rufus! You okay, buddy?"

Rufus crawled out of Ron's pocket. "Okay!" he squeaked with pleasure.

_Shego packs a punch?_ Kim ran those words through her mind. _Did Shego hit him when she used him as a shield? I was right here. I think I would have seen that._ "Ron," she said, getting his full attention away from Rufus, "does your head hurt?"

"A little bit. I just crash landed on the floor, and it wasn't exactly carpet."

Kim held up four fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked.

"Four."

"What's your name?"

"Ron Stoppable."

"What's my name?"

"Kim Possible. KP, what is this all about? I'm fine." He stood up to prove it. Unfortunately, Star's energy bolt had slashed through his belt buckle, making his pants fall down and revealing his red polka-dot boxers. "Not again," he groaned, pulling them back up and refastening the belt.

Starfire giggled and looked away. Kim took her fellow redhead aside. "What are you guys doing here?" she demanded.

Starfire wasn't sure if Robin would want her to explain everything, but she hated to keep secrets from her friends, and Kim was the first "normal" friend she had. She couldn't hide information from her first real chance to fit in with the earthlings. "Slade," she told Kim. "He told us that someone would be taking the xenothium at this location tonight. We thought that it may be a trap, but Robin insisted."

Kim could not believe what she was hearing. Their arch nemesis told them where to meet? At least Dr. Drakken waited until she came to him to gloat about his plans. This was Team Go all over again. On top of that, the robbery that they had fully known about was practically in her backyard. Why hadn't Robin called? What did he think she was, an amateur or something?

"Star!" Cyborg yelled from the other side of the spacious room. "A little help here?"

"Coming, Cyborg!" she shouted back, flying into action. Kim ran behind her, joining in the fight.

By now, Shego had managed to retract her grappling hook from the ceiling and was holding it in one hand, while firing at Cyborg with her other hand. She and Cy dodged each other's blasts, with the half robot being the only one standing between her and her prize. Beast Boy tried to help by sneaking up behind Shego as a small bird, then dropping down on her as a hippopotamus. Raven floated next to him, looking for things to telepathically throw. Shego, seeing the shadow growing larger around her on the floor, looked up before Beast Boy could land. She slid out of the way and shot out her grappling hook, entangling Raven and the green hippo together. Beast Boy tried to change animals, but the cord was too tight. Finally, he managed to turn into his human form, still tied tightly to Raven.

"Whoops," Beast Boy said, trying to put a positive spin on things. Raven, having just been sat on by a green hippo, was not amused.

When Cyborg came over to help untie Beast Boy and Raven, Shego grabbed him from behind. She was no computer expert, but she knew a thing or two about shutting down Dr. D's lame inventions. This one was a little more complex, but she managed to place her hand in just the right spot that a shot of a few green sparks spread through his body like electricity, overloading his system and forcing him to drop to all fours on the ground. It felt like his insides were on fire.

"Must. Not. Shut. Down," he told himself as he tried to repair the damage with his own hands.

It might appear that Shego was having an easy time, but really, she had to fight harder than usual to keep up. She was used to only dealing with Kim and Ron, not them and a whole team of superheroes. This was starting to tire her out. However, that did not mean she was giving up. She just wanted to get out with the loot as soon as possible. She picked up the crate no longer guarded by Cyborg and sprinted toward the door.

Robin finished cutting Beast Boy and Raven free with a birdarang and prepared to throw it at Shego to stop her, but Kim Possible jumped in the way. "You're going to have to do better than that, Shego," she said, taking her usual stance before combat.

Shego said nothing. Keeping the crate of xenothium in her hands, she kicked her leg up, aiming for Kim's face. Kim ducked and swung her leg around, messing up Shego's balance enough so that she could grab the crate. However, Shego was not letting go. The two began a tug of war, each pulling the coveted substance toward themselves.

"Starfire," Robin said to the Tamaranian girl next to him, "give me a lift."

She obediently picked him up and flew him over to the fight by the door. She dropped him on top of the crate between the two women. Being a small young man and always light on his feet, his weight did not affect either one's ability to continue pulling on the box. He took out a birdarang and slashed at Shego's gloved hands, making her drop it. Starfire landed between him and Shego and proceeded to chase her away while he dropped to the floor and picked up the end of the crate that Shego had been carrying.

Kim scowled at him. "So you heard Shego was practically in my backyard and you didn't call me?" she asked angrily.

"Well it looks like you found it on your own," Robin pointed out, "and I don't recall getting a call from you either."

"We fight Shego alone all the time," Kim insisted. "We don't need your help."

"And that's why she nearly got away before we got here?" Robin asked.

"Oh, like your team has been doing much better," Kim said. "One of your teammates almost shut down, two more got tied together, and one accidentally shot Ron. Just because you're superheroes doesn't make you any better than us. Starfire told me how you found out about the robbery. You seriously talk with your arch nemesis from your headquarters? Have you never thought that through enough to think that he might abuse that to spy on your hideout?"

"Maybe," Robin replied, frustrated, "but at least we have a hideout. You just hang out at Bueno Nacho and talk about all kinds of sensitive information. Have you never thought that maybe that's a little bit unprofessional? The fate of the world could be at stake here!"

"When the fate of the world is at stake, nobody cares about how 'professional' you are!"

"Well, maybe they should!"

While the two team leaders fought, Starfire continued her pursuit of Shego, firing starbolts from the air. Soon Shego found herself backed up against a wall. She felt all her anger and frustration at these teenagers rush to her hands. She put them together to create one huge ball of green energy.

Starfire landed and felt her righteous fury at Shego, Slade, and things evil. She held one large starbolt between her hands, poised to throw it. "I do not wish to hurt you," she warned Shego. "Surrender now. We do not need to fight."

If Shego was surprised at what Starfire said, she didn't show it. "Sorry, princess," she said, "but we can't all be nice."

At the same instant, they both threw their powerful blasts of green energy at each other. Upon contact, both crashed with equal force. It felt like they had been hit by their own powers. Shego didn't think much of it and made a break for it. Starfire, on the other hand, watched her go, then looked at her own starbolt questioningly. Something strange had happened, something she did not understand. She had to tell Robin. Or Kim. Or someone. She looked around. Robin and Kim were both still locked in their argument over the crate of xenothium on the other end of the room. The other Titans were either chasing Shego or trying to fix Cyborg. The only one near her was Ron, who was watching the fight intently and waiting for the right moment to join in.

She got up, brushed herself off, and walked over to his position next to the wall with the laser shut-off. She barely knew him, but he was familiar with this strange green woman. "Friend Ron?" she asked. He didn't hear her. "Ron?" she repeated a little bit louder. Still no response. She took a deep breath. "RON!"

"Ah!" he panicked. He turned around, looking like he expected some kind of monster. When he saw Starfire, he said, "Don't do that to me! I'm trying to watch Kim!" One of his flailing arms hit the laser shut-off. A red light on it started blinking. He and Starfire looked at it. "This cannot be good," Ron said.

"Intruder detected. Begin emergency firing sequence."

"No it cannot," Starfire agreed.

Little laser guns popped out of the walls and began to fire at random. Kim and Robin dropped the crate and ran for cover. "Go to Raven!" Robin ordered his teammates. "Now!"

The Titans dodged the lasers until they could get behind Raven. Starfire dragged Ron over as well. "Friend Kim!" Starfire called. "You must join us!" Not fully understanding what was going on, Kim rolled under two laser shots, then joined the rest of the teen heroes.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven said. Black energy went out from her and enveloped the whole group like a giant dark bubble. As long as Raven focused on her center, the lasers could not penetrate it.

Shego could not believe her luck. All of the heroes were stuck in Raven's spherical shield. She nimbly dodged a dozen lasers and grabbed the crate. "Thanks, Kimmie!" she said, waving goodbye as she bolted out the door.

"No!" both Robin and Kim shouted.

The security guards from another sector of the facility showed up only a couple of seconds later, having received a notification that the emergency lasers had been fired. They shut down the system, and all of the teenage crime fighters ran after Shego. It was too late. By the time they reached the outside of the building, she was gone.

Slade watched intently from Drakken's computer. "Very impressive," he said. "Excellent work, Shego. Or, should I say, apprentice?"

In the factory parking lot, Kim and Robin were both furious at each other. "You let her get away!" they both said at once. "No I didn't! You did!"

"We all did," said Cyborg, stepping between them to break up the argument. "She was tougher than any of us expected."

"Hey, I would have called you if I needed backup," Kim told Robin.

"Coulda, woulda, didn't," Robin replied.

"Well why didn't you call me?" she asked him. "Were you saving me 'for backup' too?"

Robin wasn't entirely sure how to answer that. Beast Boy shrugged and smiled guiltily. "Um…maybe?"

"I thought we were a team," said Kim. "We're supposed to be working together! This is the exact opposite of teamwork!"

"Slade is my…our responsibility," said Robin. "I didn't want to put you at risk when you didn't need to be." That little slip of the tongue caught Starfire's attention. Robin was slipping into what Cyborg called his "Slade mode". She hoped he could control it before he did anything too dangerous.

"Well Shego is our responsibility," Kim told him, "and so is Drakken. We're in this together whether we like it or not. Now that Shego's gone, the three of them could be hiding anywhere. It will take all seven of us to find them."

"Don't you mean eight?" Ron asked, plucking Rufus out of his pocket. "Can't forget the world's most intelligent naked mole rat." Rufus sat down in Ron's hand and yawned. Ron yawned too, looked up, and saw that it was now dark. "Hey, KP, what time is it?"

She checked her watch. "Shoot! It's nine o'clock already. How did that happen? Robin, Titans, I have a ton of homework left to do and my dad will freak if I'm up too late on a school night."

"Sounds like you're not doing anything else tonight," Raven commented.

"I can't." Kim wanted to keep searching, but she knew the rules. After she had come home too late from the Himalayas last week and nearly bombed a quiz the next morning, her dad had become even stricter about curfew than usual. She looked around her and saw the orange T-Ship. "Is that yours?" she asked on a hunch.

"Yep," said Cyborg. "Built it with my own two hands."

Perfect! "Think you look for Slade and Drakken from there?" Kim asked.

"We can try," said Robin. "They might be all the way in Jump City by now, or somewhere completely different just to throw us off. Slade is as slippery as they come."

"Look," Kim said. She was addressing the whole group, but was really speaking to Robin. "I'm used to calling the shots when it's just me and Ron, and I'm not used to having any other teammates. That means if we're going to work together, I have some areas that need improvement. However, that does not at all mean I am anywhere lower than you on the food chain, or that I'm some kind of amateur. If we're going to keep this up, I'd appreciate it if you dropped the attitude. Okay?"

"Okay," Robin sighed. "I guess I haven't been the best teammate in the world lately. I have reasons for that, though. There are things about me that you probably wouldn't understand, and things about Slade too. I know you're a great crime fighter, and I know that I haven't exactly treated you with much respect for it, but Slade is unlike any villain I've ever fought. This is serious business. It isn't a game. You don't know what he's capable of."

"Try me," she said. She extended her hand to him and smiled. "Let's start this whole mess over. Hi, I'm Kim Possible."

Robin shook her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Possible. My name is Robin."

"Friends?" she asked.

"Friends," he replied. They let go of each other's hands.

Ron immediately grabbed Robin's hand and shook it like he was trying to break it off. "Booyah! I am so glad we're teammates now. Can I call you Rob? We can be sidekick buddies!"

Robin pulled away. "Don't call me Rob. Please. And I'm not a sidekick."

"Come on, Ron," Kim said, walking to where she had parked her purple car. "You have homework too."

Ron reluctantly agreed to leave his teen idol. Once Kim and Ron were gone, the Titans loaded into the T-Ship. "Split up," Robin said into the radio. "If Shego's still in Upperton, we might still catch her. You have one hour to scan each part of the city. Cyborg, you go north. Beast Boy, you go south. Raven, go east. Starfire, you and I are going west. Titans, separate!"

The orange ship split into five separate compartments, each holding one Titan. The heroes took control of their piece of the ship and flew off in their designated directions. Inside of his section, Robin switched his microphone so that only Starfire could hear him. "Starfire?" he said.

"Yes, Robin?" she replied, gliding underneath him in her own miniature ship.

"Did I completely blow it back there?"

"That is not the exact vocabulary I would use."

"I should have called her. It was a mistake not to. I'm surprised she still trusts me."

"Worry not, Robin. People do make the mistakes. It is normal."

"It's Slade. That's what it is. I have to stop letting him in, but I can't. He knows it, too. If I hadn't been so bossy to Kim, Shego might not have gotten away."

"Robin should not be so hard on Robin. We can still stop the villains. Kim is nice. She is our friend now." Starfire's voice paused for a second. "Robin, you must beware of the Slade. He will destroy from inside if you are not most cautious."

"I know. That's part of why I don't want to bring anyone new into this. If Slade can mess with my head, he can do that to anybody. You remember Terra, don't you?"

"Yes." Her voice sounded sad through the static. "But Kim is not Terra. She does not feel the need to fit in because she does fit in. She will not trade her freedom for acceptance. She is already accepted in this world."

"That's good. Then again, Kim and I seem kind of alike. I was sucked into Slade's world too, as much as I hate to admit it."

"Then it is fortunate that she will not take orders from you. Fear not, Robin. What you have done for Slade, it is in the past. You are not a sidekick or an apprentice or any person other than yourself. I believe in you, Robin. You can win this fight."

Robin smiled. "Thanks, Starfire. I'm glad someone believes in me."

They kept flying silently above the streets of west Upperton. With no luck, all five parts of the jet rejoined one hour later and left for home in Jump City.


	10. Apprenticeship

Shego yawned as she dragged her feet into Dr. Drakken's secret lair. She had delivered the coveted xenothium crate hours ago, only to have her beauty sleep interrupted by a call at three in the morning telling her to report for work. Here she was, not at all satisfied with the arrangement.

"Okay, Dr. D," she said aloud, certain that he was somewhere nearby, "this better be important. You know I hate waking up in the middle of the night like this." Not hearing a response, she kept walking, keeping an eye out for her blue-skinned boss. "I get that you're evil, but you've got to draw the line somewhere. A girl needs her beauty sleep." Still no response. She stood still. "Very funny, Dr. D. If you don't jump out of wherever you're hiding in ten seconds, I am going back to bed. Honestly, it's like I work with a two-year-old. One…two…three…" She tapped her foot impatiently. "…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…AH!"

Her foot had hit a trigger on the floor, sending her down a tube slide of a trap door. She landed in a heap on a chair set up right at the tube's end. She sat up and fixed her hair. "Finally. Can't you ever make a normal door for once? The trap door thing is really starting to get old."

"Is it really?" asked a voice much too deep and intimidating to belong to Drakken. "I haven't tired of it yet."

Shego looked around. She could see no one in the poorly lit room with her…then she saw it. One single eye popping out of a shadow-covered mask. Slade stepped forward, revealing himself. "Good morning, Shego," he said.

"Oh, it's you," she said, still not too happy. "What's the big idea of bringing me down here at three o'clock in the morning? I just stole a crate of xeno-whatever from seven crazy teenagers for you. Don't I deserve a little shut-eye after that?"

"It was an excellent performance," Slade replied, not answering a single one of her questions. "Magnificent to watch." He pulled out a remote and pushed a red button that turned on three monitors on the wall behind him. Each monitor replayed silent clips of last night's fight. He gestured to the repeating clip of Shego disarming Cyborg. "This one is definitely my favorite."

"It was nothing," she said. She quickly added, "Flattery isn't getting you anywhere, mister. You better not have woken me up in the middle of the night just to show off an instant replay reel."

Slade clicked another button and paused the videos. "The attitude is a bit much. You're going to have to work on that."

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Uh, yeah. As if."

Slade was not used to getting this kind of reaction from anyone. He decided to let it go for now and began speaking as if the interruption had never happened. "You have good technique, Shego. Good, but not perfect. Given a little time, your training would easily make up for that."

"Training?" she repeated. "What training?"

"You are also very cunning," he continued, ignoring her. "Not every villain can find and exploit the Titans' weaknesses like you did last night, and certainly not at their first encounter with them. You had some lucky breaks, of course. The lasers going off at the end, for one thing, were very convenient. I do admire your strategy, though it could always take a few improvements."

Shego was just confused by now. She slouched in her chair and began examining her gloved fingernails. "Look, slick, would you tell me what this is about already? Why did you call me down here without Dr. D?"

Slade turned around, facing his one eye toward her. If there had been crickets in the room, they would have been heard quite loudly. Finally, Slade spoke. "Congratulations. You passed the test."

Shego rolled her eyes again. "Doy. I got you your stupid chemical, didn't I?"

"That was only part of the test," Slade said, his voice echoing through the almost-empty room. "Taking the xenothium, of course, was a challenge. However, I was testing you for more than a little robbery. You see, I knew that Kim Possible and company would not miss a break-in so close to her home and would be there to meet you. To test your skills, I contacted the Teen Titans and told them of our plan to steal the xenothium."

Shego stood up angrily. "YOU?! You told them to fight me? I thought we had an alliance!"

"Patience, Shego," he said calmly. "I sent in the Teen Titans because I wanted to see how you would fare against greater odds than you normally face. I watched it all from here. It was all a test, Shego. You passed. Congratulations." He paused. "You see, Shego, I have not been completely honest with you and Dr. Drakken about my intentions. I do indeed desire a partnership, but not of the nature I previously described…and not for all three of us."

Shego sat back down. "What exactly are you saying?" she asked slowly.

"I am saying," Slade replied, "that I am in great need of an apprentice. Allies merely help each other out. Apprentices are trained to become as great as their masters, or greater. Altogether, it is a much better deal. I have had two apprentices in the past. Both turned on me. That was when I realized what the problem with both of them was: no matter how much they served me, no matter what I made them do, even the second one who nearly destroyed Jump City and the Titans in my name, deep down in the depths of their beings there was some goodness. I need someone who is not tempted by goodness, someone who feels no attraction to benevolence and honestly enjoys evil for evil's sake."

He bent down so that his masked face was right in front of Shego's, with his eye staring into both of hers. "I have been observing you and your employer for many years, Shego. I determined that of all the prospective apprentices out there, you have the required combination of skills, and villainy. This was the final test of your abilities in combat. After your success last night, there is no doubt in my mind: I choose you, Shego."

"Me?" she asked, honestly surprised. "Me? To be your apprentice? Are you serious?"

"Quite," Slade answered. "Should you accept, you will need to obey me as your master, but you will also learn to excel to your full potential. Believe me, Shego, you have quite a lot of potential."

"True," she admitted. She liked where this conversation was going. Obedience was never her strongest suit, but it wasn't every day that someone appreciated just how much potential as a villain she had. Dr. Drakken was always too busy with his whacked schemes to pay her many compliments. That reminded her of something. "You said this was a deal for just the two of us," she pointed out. "What happens to Dr. D?"

"I have not removed Dr. Drakken from the equation completely," the tall masked man explained. "He is really building me a robot army, which I need almost as desperately as I need an apprentice. He will be kept around to help with any machinery-related issues that come up."

"So in other words," Shego said, putting it all together, "you want me as your apprentice while Dr. Doofus sticks around as a sort of henchman-mechanic guy?"

"Precisely."

She thought for a few seconds, her mouth curving up into a mischievous smirk. Putting Drakken in his place for once was pretty tempting. She had often thought about what it would be like with herself on top and him at the bottom. After all, didn't she deserve more respect than he usually gave her? She was the real power in this team, after all. Dr. Drakken just sat around either scheming or playing with his gadgets.

Then again, he wasn't the worst person to work for. He paid for her resort vacation that time for Christmas, and he always let her get away with anything. She would feel kind of bad dumping him like this. She was his sidekick. Wasn't loyalty a big part of the whole sidekick thing?

Slade could practically see the gears turning in her mind as she mulled it over. "You are worried about Dr. Drakken's fate," he observed. "You feel an obligation to him as a sidekick."

"Well…yeah, maybe I do. He's a pretty bad supervillain and his plans always fail, but he's a decent guy. It feels weird to leave him in the dirt."

"Of course," Slade said understandingly. "But is 'weird' the only way you would feel? Imagine it, Shego. The two of us on top of the world together. Everyone looking up at you in fear of the power we both hold. Your former master, Dr. Drakken, sitting on the ground, taking orders from you. You could give him a real piece of your mind for a change, and there would be no rebuke. You, shining at your full potential that he could never truly see. Him, your humble assistant, wishing he could have when he had the chance."

She closed her eyes and imagined it exactly like Slade described it. It didn't just feel good. It felt great! This feeling of power was exactly what she had decided to chase when she first betrayed her brothers and turned from hero to villain. What did she care about Dr. Drakken? She liked telling him what to do, and she could do just that. It wasn't like she was dropping him off a cliff or anything.

"You know," Slade added convincingly, "he's only holding you back."

Shego opened her eyes, her smirk now much bigger, giving her an altogether more evil-looking countenance. "You draw me up a contract," she told her new boss, "and I'll sign it."

"Perfect," said Slade, taking out a pen and several sheets of paper. "I've already got one drawn up."

**(A/N: Okay, so I'm thinking about changing the second category of this story from Humor to something else because the way things are going with Robin's Slade issues, it's getting a little bit darker than I had planned. Next chapter is going to be pretty light, though, so if I do change it, it won't be until after that. Comment or message me if you think I should change it and what I should change it to! Thanks!)**


	11. Girl Time

Starfire knocked on Raven's door. It opened just enough to reveal half of her teammate's face. "What?" Raven asked, clearly unhappy with being disturbed.

"Excuse me, but have you seen Robin?" Starfire asked.

"He's in Slade mode," Raven deadpanned. "Where do you think he is?"

Starfire knew instantly. Robin was staring at newspaper clippings in the evidence room while obsessing over Slade's every move. She hated it when he did that to himself, but when he was this focused, even she couldn't convince him to take a break for his own good.

"Oh, I see," she said sadly. She perked up quickly. "I have completed my combat practice for the day and am feeling the bored. May I do the hanging out with you?"

Raven shook her head. "I'm in the middle of meditation. I barely got in any yesterday, and I need it. Try Beast Boy or Cyborg."

"But Cyborg is doing the washing of the T-Car," Starfire told her friend, "and Beast Boy is trying to give him assistance." Of course, both girls knew that Beast Boy was probably hurting more than helping. "Please, Raven? Do not normal teenage girls of this planet do the hanging out together?"

"Maybe they do," Raven replied, itching to get back to meditation. "But I'm not a normal teenage girl. I am a very abnormal girl who needs to meditate right now. Try reading a book or something." She shut the door before Starfire could protest.

The alien princess hung her head and sighed. There was nothing for her to do. All she had wanted was to act the way she thought she was expected to on this planet. How was she supposed to learn how to be normal when there was no one to teach her? Raven was the only other girl in Titans Tower, but she never wanted to do ordinary girl things with her. If only Raven were more like a regular teenage girl who did regular teenage girl things. That was when Starfire got a bright idea…

"Mad Dogs! Mad Dogs! Go, fight, win!"

The Middleton High School cheer squad jumped in the air and shook their pompoms as the song they had been cheering to ended. Kim Possible, the squad captain, walked over to the speaker and pushed the pause button.

"Great effort, girls," she said, addressing the whole squad. "Take five, then we'll run it again."

The squad dissolved their formation and headed to the bleachers, clustering in small gossiping groups and taking sips out of their water bottles. Many of the cheerleaders took advantage of their outdoor location and inspected the football players who were warming up nearby. Kim had her eye on one particular blonde football player wearing a jersey labeled "Stoppable".

She waved to Ron. He paused his pushups to smile and wave back. Suddenly, a giant shadow covered him.

"Stoppable!" Coach Barkin yelled, blocking out the sun from Ron's perspective. "This is football practice, not a school dance! Just for that, I'm giving you ten more!"

"Yes, sir," Ron groaned, returning to work.

Kim saw the whole thing. "Sorry, Ron," she said, though it was too quiet for her boyfriend to hear her across the field.

A cheerleader with short, straight brown hair looked at Kim skeptically. "I still can't believe they let that loser onto the football team," she said.

"Well, Bonnie," Kim retorted, "I still can't believe that Brick finally managed to graduate."

"Hmph!" Bonnie tossed her head and sauntered off to her own clique, far away from her redheaded rival.

Kim wandered off to where she had stashed her backpack under the bleachers. She hoped Wade hadn't called while she was practicing. The speakers were too loud for her to hear the familiar beeping of her Kimmunicator.

She dug through and pulled it out. "Any luck finding Shego?" she asked the young genius on the screen.

"Not yet," Wade replied, typing on the keyboard in front of him. "All my leads have been dead ends. I'll let you know as soon as I find something."

"Thanks, Wade," Kim said. "I'm counting on you." She signed off and bent down to put the blue device back into her backpack. Realizing that the water break was almost over, she got up, turned around and…saw Starfire standing right in front of her.

"Greetings to you, friend Kim!" she grinned, giving Kim a hug that nearly cut off her circulation. "What is the sitch?"

Once Kim had squirmed her way out of the other girl's grip and caught her breath, she asked, "Starfire? What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Starfire held up her communicator. "Any Titans communicator can distinguish the location of any other Titans communicator."

Kim was still confused. "But…the Titans…they're back in Jump City. Are you here alone?"

"Yes," she replied. "I do not have need of the T-Car or T-Ship to arrive here. I can even exceed the speed of light if I have the desire to do so."

"Really?" Kim was honestly surprised. "That's…that's great. But why did you come over here by yourself?"

Starfire answered, "Well, you see, I had completed all of my required tasks for the day, and the others were all occupied, so I was feeling very much the bored. But then, I realized that now would be the perfect time for us to do the hanging out as friends! I have never done the hanging out with a 'basic average girl' before, and I am most curious about what it is that you do to have the fun."

Kim looked past Starfire at the squad, still taking their water break. "Look," she said, "I'd love to hang out with you. The thing is, I'm kind of in the middle of cheer practice right now, and we have to be ready for the big football game tonight. Could it wait?"

Starfire, eager to please her new friend, nodded. "Of course! May I watch you do the practice?"

"Sure," Kim replied, leading her toward the front of the bleachers. "You can watch from here. Just try not to get in the way of the routine, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Kim," Bonnie's voice demanded, "what is that?" She stepped down two levels and eyed Starfire suspiciously. "Orange skin? Green eyes? Not to mention the weirdest, longest shoes I've ever seen. They're practically as long as her legs!"

Starfire looked down shamefully at her tall purple boots. They were the height of fashion on Tamaran. She had never realized how long they really were.

Kim turned to Starfire. "Don't listen to her," she told the alien. "Bonnie has some issues." She stood up straight and looked Bonnie in the eyes. "And she's not a 'what', she's a 'who'. Her name is Starfire and she is a superhero, so if you're going to insult her, you should watch your back."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Superhero? Now I've heard everything." She left to go fix her makeup.

No sooner had she taken out her eye shadow and mirror than suddenly a green beam of light bounced off her mirror and into the rainbow makeup selection, making it explode in her face in a cloud of multicolored dust. She looked in her hand mirror and saw Starfire hovering just above her with her green eyes still glowing.

"My apologies," she said sweetly, her eyes returning to normal, "but it seemed you doubted the existence of my abilities as a superhero. I trust I did not damage you?"

Bonnie wiped some purple off her nose. "Okay, okay, you're a superhero. Whatever."

Kim was enjoying every minute of this. It wasn't every day that she got to watch Bonnie's eye shadow explode in her face. She even wondered why she hadn't thought about doing that herself sooner with one of her many gadgets. The girl totally had it coming. "High five for that," she said to her new friend. Starfire gave her a high five so hard that it felt like her hand was about to break off. "Super strength," she tried to smile through her pain. "Nice. You're pretty cool."

"I am?" Starfire looked concerned. "But I do not feel the cold…"

"It's an expression," Kim replied. She picked up her pompoms again and called out, "Okay, girls! Break's over! Let's run it again!" The squad got in position. Kim turned on the music. "Five, six, seven, eight!"

The cheerleaders began their routine and carried it through expertly. Starfire was incredibly intrigued. She was familiar with the concept of cheerleaders. She had seen football games on TV and a few movies centered on high school life. However, this was her first time being at an actual cheer practice. This was what ordinary high school girls did. And it looked like so much fun!

At the end of the cheer, Starfire stood up and clapped. "Magnificent!" she exclaimed to KP. "That was most enjoyable!"

"Thanks," the squad captain replied. She turned around to instruct the others. "Great job everyone. Remember to be back here in a few hours. We need to be sure we have everything together before the big game tonight. See you then!"

The cheerleaders were thus dismissed to the locker room to change. Kim stayed to pack up the speakers. Starfire stayed right behind her as she headed to where the other girls were. Just outside the locker room door, Starfire stopped and stared at something. It was a bulletin board with all of the current and upcoming school activities posted on it. Debate team competitions, baseball tryouts, upcoming theater performances, an announcement about the postponement of the Procrastinators Club, a countdown to some kind of spirit week, even a poster for talent show auditions. There were things she had heard of but never done, and an equal number of things she had never heard of at all. She was captivated.

Kim noticed her interest. "Pretty busy, huh? You can stay here and look at that while I go in here and change." Starfire nodded, mesmerized by the flyers before her.

Once changed, Kim stepped out the door, only to be confronted by a very familiar face. "Oh, hey Monique," she said. "What's the sitch?"

"The sitch," Monique replied with her hands on her hips, "is that I asked you for some one-on-one girl time last week and you blew me off."

"Monique," Kim told her, "you know I had to…"

"…go to the Himalayas to stop Monkey Fist from stealing whatever ancient artifact he was stealing from whoever he was stealing it from. I know. I get it. Fate of the world overrules girl time. But I believe you told me that you wanted to make up for it by rescheduling girl time for this week. Today. Now."

"Today?" She looked past Monique at Starfire just down the hall, who was currently trying to understand the meaning of the term "Glee Club". Was it a club devoted to happiness? She could be on board with that. But why were there music notes on the flyer? Kim tried to think of excuses. "I don't know about today, Monique. I have to be back in just a few hours because of the big game, and I'm waiting for word from Wade about something really important."

"Oh no," said Monique. "Kim, you are not backing out of this one. We'll be done before the game easily. Don't you want to have some bonding time with your best female friend?"

It was true. Kim did want to hang out with Monique. There was one issue: the alien staring at the bulletin board. Still, Kim knew she couldn't blow off Monique again. It wouldn't be right. "The thing is," she began, "I…well…how would you feel if somebody else tagged along?"

Monique shook her head. "Kim, I get that you like spending time with your boyfriend, but Ron is not invited to girl time. It's called 'girl time' for a reason."

"It's not Ron," Kim explained. "It's, well, her."

Starfire, hearing that she was being talked about, flew over and hovered next to the other two girls. "Greetings! What is your name, friend?"

"I'm Monique," the girl replied, getting over the shock of this new person's appearance and capability of flight. "Are you two…uh…friends or something?"

"Yes! It is most glorious to meet you, Monique!" Starfire gave Monique a hug that probably would have broken a few bones if she had held it much longer.

"This is Starfire," Kim explained. "She's not exactly from around here. Or this planet. She wanted to hang out with me after practice to see what normal teenagers do together. Is it okay if she comes along?"

Monique looked her over. "Well, she is a girl. Oh, why not? Any friend of Kim's is a friend of mine. So, where do you two want to go? I think we talked about going to the mall earlier…"

"Oh yes please!" Starfire said. "I adore the mall of shopping, especially with my friends!" Really, she had only visited the mall with a friend a couple of times. The friend had been Raven, and Raven had despised every minute of it.

So it was settled. The trio piled into Kim's purple car and took off in the direction of the local shopping mall. Kim drove, with Monique shotgun and Starfire in the back. The alien girl had only been in the T-Car before. This new automobile was definitely less advanced technologically, but it was still interesting to see a normal teen's ride. And the seats were really comfortable.

After driving for a few minutes and parking, Kim and Monique led Starfire through the large automatic doors at the front of the mall. Starfire looked around. It was very different from the mall in Jump City. She hardly recognized any of the stores. One thing was still the same: the staring. One specific group of teenage girls walked past her on their way out and couldn't take their eyes off her. She looked down at her purple shoes and pretended not to notice.

Kim noticed her new friend's unhappiness. "Starfire? Is everything okay?"

She perked up immediately as if nothing had happened. "Of course. I was merely wondering which location we should visit first."

"Well I know I've worked up an appetite," Kim suggested. "Want to grab something at the coffee shop? It's right around the corner."

The other two girls assented and Starfire was led around the corner to a room with a case of pastries on display and a menu full of strange words. The alien spoke English and Japanese, but these words looked more like Italian or French, two languages she could not understand. She observed Kim and Monique. They seemed completely comfortable in line, thinking about what to order. She tried to act natural behind them.

"I'll have an iced vanilla latte, hold the whipped cream," Kim ordered.

Starfire analyzed her words, trying to make sense of them. What was a latte?

It was Monique's turn. "I'll have a nonfat caramel mocha please."

Starfire searched the menu above the counter for ideas while Kim and Monique headed to the other side to retrieve their orders. So many unfamiliar words. What did they all mean? It looked like they were different kinds of beverages, but never ones she'd had before. Robin occasionally drank coffee, but Raven stuck to herbal tea, Cyborg didn't like it, and everybody was afraid to find out what would happen if Beast Boy swallowed too much caffeine. Even when Robin did rarely drink coffee, it didn't have a super long foreign name like these did.

"Can I help you?" the cashier asked.

"Oh! Yes, I…um…"

Meanwhile, Kim and Monique found a table with three chairs. "Thanks for making me do this, Monique," the cheerleader said. "I really need to relax right now. Drakken's up to no good, and now he has a new friend who I've never even heard of."

"Not to mention that math unit test," Monique added. "You were studying every minute you weren't on a mission. It must feel good to have that out of the way now."

"Yeah," Kim agreed, taking a sip of her drink. "I wasn't sure if I was going to live to see fourth period when I was taking that. Looks like I made it, though. So what have you been up to?"

"Work, mostly. I had to pull a double shift on Monday. It's like as soon as one season starts, we have to start stocking the next one." The phone in Monique's pocket buzzed. She took it out and looked at it. "Not again."

"Again? Don't tell me it's the same one."

"It is," Monique groaned, stuffing the phone deep into her pocket. "Somehow, he got the idea that just because I don't have a BF, I'm desperate. Well, I am so not desperate enough for him. You will not believe…"

She was cut off by Starfire arriving at the table with her drink. She had settled on the one word she could pronounce. It was just coffee. Black coffee with nothing in it at all.

Kim was surprised. She knew that some people liked it that way, but Starfire didn't seem like a plain black coffee type of person. "Have you had that before?" she asked.

"No," Star replied. "This is my first taste." She picked it up to drink it.

"Wait!" Monique warned. "It's hot!"

It was too late. She took a huge sip of the dark brown bitterness. Her eyes widened to be half the size of her face. She put down her cup and sat bolt upright, silently.

Kim and Monique waited for her reaction. When none came, Kim waved at her slowly. "Hello? Starfire?" She turned to Monique. "Did we just break her?"

Starfire suddenly sprang back to life. "That was most glorious!" she exclaimed, downing another gulp. "It tastes exactly like the zorka juice of my home world! It requires one thing…" She took out an "emergency" packet of mustard left over from the Bueno Nacho visit and squeezed in into her coffee. Monique and Kim just stared as she drank some more. "Much better," the alien said.

Once she had overcome the shock, Monique asked nervously, "So…uh…Starfire? Where'd you say you were from?"

Starfire beamed. A normal person was interested in her own story! "The planet Tamaran," she answered. "It is such a beautiful place. My K'norfka, Galfor, is now the Grand Ruler, and he is most kind. He is not at all like my sister. She once attempted to take over the planet and force me into an arranged marriage with a sklerch." She shuddered at the word. "She was not good for Tamaran, so she was banished."

"So what about you?" Kim asked. "Why aren't you back home?"

Starfire replied, "I did return once. It was for the marriage. Once my sister was overthrown, I decided to give up the crown. My home and friends are on earth now. This is where I belong." She sighed. "Not everything is so perfect for me. It is difficult to belong on a planet where one is so different."

Kim couldn't help feeling bad for Starfire. She couldn't imagine leaving her home to live on another planet. "Fitting in is totally overrated," she said encouragingly. "Half the world is full of Bonnies anyway."

"Oh, don't even get me started on that girl," Monique said.

Starfire smiled. "You do not mind, then, that I am a bit of the weird?"

Kim shook her head. "I battled overgrown kiddie meal toys on prom night and found out my then-boyfriend was a robot made of green goo. That was weird. You are not weird."

Monique took a couple more sips of her mocha. "You know what always makes me feel better?" she asked Starfire. "Two words: Club. Banana."

Starfire looked confused. "It's a clothing store," Kim explained. "Monique gets an employee discount because she works there. We always go there when we're at the mall. Do you want to see what's there?"

"Certainly!" Star said, now finished with her drink. "In which direction shall we go?"

Monique stood up. "Just follow me," she said. "I know this mall like the back of my hand." Kim and Starfire stood up and threw out their empty cups. The three girls began walking in the direction of Kim and Monique's all-time favorite store.

**(A/N: Aw, that was cute. Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I've decided to change the second category to Adventure instead of Humor. It's like as soon as Slade shows up, he makes everything just a little bit darker than it otherwise would be. Now, let's leave the girls at Club Banana and see what Robin's up to in the evidence room.)**


	12. Pawns

Robin tapped a birdarang on the desk in front of him impatiently. He had been in the dark evidence room for at least an hour, and hadn't thought of anything remotely useful. The newspaper clippings and broken gadgets from previous encounters only filled his mind with memories. Not the kind of memories that he treasured, either. These were the kind of memories that he wished he could forget. Memories of Slade. Memories of Terra. Memories of every time he'd failed to stop the madman. Memories of when he had even served him.

"Focus!" he told himself out loud. "Thinking like that won't help anybody! Just move on and figure this out. You can do this. Starfire believes you can do this."

He stood up and walked from one end of the room to the other, examining all the evidence he had collected on his arch foe. A couple broken masks, a couple of pictures taken with Beast Boy's camera during a chase that still revealed nothing important, and that earpiece with the dreaded "S" printed on it that Robin himself had worn once. And newspaper clippings. Lots and lots of newspaper clippings.

It felt like they were surrounding him on all sides, those paper cut-outs. They were everywhere he looked. "Mystery Man Strikes Again!" "Who is that Masked Man?" "Robbery Attributed to Man Called 'Slade'!" "Slade Nearly Captured!" "Criminal Known as Slade Reappears!" Robin could see them swirling around him like a black and white tornado, taunting him with their enticing titles. "Slade is Back!" "Slade Strikes Again!" "Who is Slade?" That last one repeated in his mind over and over. He shut his eyes and tried to block it out.

He was back at Slade's first lair, his red and green uniform switched out for a black and copper one. Slade stood in front of him, just a few paces away. "Hello, Robin," said Slade's very recognizable voice. "Alone again?"

Robin took a step forward. "My friends are with me. We're going to bring you down, Slade, just you wait."

Slade shook his head as though he'd just heard the most ridiculous story of his life. "Your friends can do nothing. This is just between you and I. We are like father and son, master and apprentice."

Robin tensed. How dare Slade dishonor the memory of his father! "You'll never be a father or a master to me! I'm nothing like you!"

Slade walked until his one-eyed mask was directly above Robin's head. "Oh, but you are. You think you can lead your little friends against me, but you couldn't even resist me yourself. You couldn't save yourself from my influence, you couldn't save Terra. What makes you think this Kim Possible will be any different?" He bent down so that his metal face almost touched Robin's nose. "You liked working for me, and you know it. What makes you think you won't fall for it again?"

Robin yelled and moved to punch Slade in the face. Slade grabbed his wrist just before impact, and with a few quick moves twisted Robin's arm behind his back. "Give up, Robin. You wknow this is all useless. You thought I was gone, but I came back. Then when you believed me dead, I returned. You thought you'd seen the last of me while fighting Trigon, but you were wrong. Even now, you can't have a moment of quiet time without me being here in your mind. I own you, Robin. As long as I'm here, you can't save your friends and they can't save you."

_He's in my mind_, Robin realized. _This is a dream_. Slade loosened his grip and let the Boy Wonder fall to the floor. "It's my mind, and I'm telling you to get out right now!"

Slade took a step back, but was not at all frightened. "You know I can't do that. I am everything you hate and fear. I haunt all the darkest corners of your mind. You can push me back as far down as you want, but I will still be waiting for you. Even if you kill me, I will still be here, lurking in the shadows of your thoughts."

Robin covered his ears, trying to block him out.

"You want to help your friends," Slade continued. "You think they can defeat me. What part do they have in this fight? You know it's really just you and I. They are useless to you, and worthless to me."

"No," he said. "My friends are stronger than you. You can't stop them. You don't know what they can do."

Slade kept speaking as if there was never an interruption. "They are merely your little pawns. You and I are the only kings in this game." Robin looked around. The floor had been replaced with a giant chess board, with pieces as tall as he was surrounding him. "One by one," Slade's voice spoke, though Robin could no longer see the masked madman, "I will pick off the little worthless pawns…until I reach the king." The pawns on his side suddenly changed so that they all carried one of his teammate's heads. He could see Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Kim, Ron, and Starfire. A giant black king appeared above him out of nowhere. He ran away and ducked behind Starfire's pawn. He heard a sinister laugh and watched the black king knock down Starfire's white pawn first, breaking it into pieces on impact.

"NO!"

He blinked. He was back in the evidence room. He had fallen asleep at the desk again. Now he was sweating and panting. The door slid open and he looked over to see Raven.

"I heard you scream," she said. "Are you okay?"

"No," he replied. "It was Slade. He came back and I couldn't do anything. He told me I couldn't do anything, and I think I believed him. It was awful."

"It was a just dream, Robin," she told him. Once, Robin had honestly thought he saw Slade when it was only a hallucination. She'd had to enter his mind and see everything the way he saw it. The process had given the two of them a sort of bond. Even after she had stepped in, he nearly killed himself before he realized it was fake. She hoped he wasn't relapsing back into that.

"I know it was," he said, reassuring her. "It's just that what he said…" he trailed off, thinking about what had happened. All of a sudden, he looked super worried. "Starfire! Where is Starfire?"

Raven looked around her. "Not here. I'd say probably doing something girly. Maybe she's shopping, or getting her hair done, or…where are you going?"

Robin took off in the direction of the main room. He plugged his communicator into the computer and waited for it to load. He could have done this without the computer, but it would be easier to see her location on a bigger screen. A map showed up with little green dots marking where Titan communicators were. A cluster of four was in Jump City. Three more were off in Middleton.

"She must be with Kim Possible," Raven figured out.

Cyborg and Beast Boy burst into the room. "Yo, what is going on in here?" Cy asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy added. "We heard somebody scream 'no', and at first I thought somebody was watching _Clash of the Planets_, but then I realized neither of you two watch _Clash of the Planets_, so something must be wrong."

"Anyway, we came up here as soon as we could," Cyborg finished.

"Robin had a dream about Slade," Raven explained, "and now we're stalking Starfire."

"I'm not stalking her!" Robin insisted. "I've dreamed about Slade before, and sometimes they're a kind of foreshadowing. Like right before I became his apprentice, I dreamed that I took off his mask and saw my own face. In this one, Slade said he was going to pick you all off one by one, like pawns in a game of chess. Then he…and Starfire…she broke…I just want to make sure she's okay."

The Titans all knew he meant it. Despite what Cyborg sometimes said when he teased him about it, Robin really did care for Starfire a lot. "Well," Cyborg said, "the T-Ship is available if you need it. Thanks to Beast Boy, I've got some more repairs to do on my baby. For future reference, ocelots are pretty bad with cars."

Beast Boy crossed his arms. "Well, I was going to help you some more, but just for that, I'm going to play Mega Monkeys without you."

Robin unplugged his communicator and walked out of the room, checking the screen for the little green dot. If it was green, she was okay. Usually. He heard the air move behind him in the hallway. He turned around and saw Raven levitating.

"I think I should go with you," she said, "just to make sure you're emotionally stable."

"That's probably a good idea," he admitted.

The two most serious members of the Teen Titans piled into two seats of the T-Ship and took off in the direction of Middleton, following a little green dot on Robin's screen.

Back at his headquarters, Dr. Drakken paused his work to wipe the sweat from his brow. "You know, Shego," he said, "I almost wonder if you're right."

"Right?" Shego asked. "About what?"

"When you mentioned that Slade is telling us to do everything. I'm over here adjusting my robot prototype according to his specifications, and I don't see him doing anything. You think maybe he's being a bit dishonest with us?"

Lying was as natural for Shego as flying is to a bird. "Of course not, Dr. D. If he were trying to trick you, I would have noticed it a while ago. Just get back to your toys."

While Dr. D grumbled about his inventions being called toys, Shego walked out of the room with a wicked grin. After signing the contract Slade had shown her, it was official that Shego was on Team Slade. However, her new boss had insisted that they keep Drakken under the illusion that they were both still allies with him so that he would keep working without suspicion. They would drop the news on him once he was no longer useful. Shego couldn't help admiring her new master's scheming. She was sure Drakken was incapable of this kind of double-crossing.

She entered the main room where Slade was waiting patiently in front of the giant computer screen. "Okay, Slade, what did you want to see me for?"

"Welcome," he replied. "I want to inform you of the next step in my plan." He clicked on the monitor and revealed the feed from a Club Banana security camera. Kim and Monique were helping Starfire try on new earth clothes.

Shego winced. "Whoa, Kimmie," she said to the screen as if Kim could hear her, "that is so not her color. She is totally a pastels kind of girl. What with the neon body and everything…oh yeah. Okay, that goes better. Fashion crisis averted." She felt a large, cold hand on her shoulder. "Right, next step. What's the next step?"

"The next step," he explained, "involves destroying our now mutual enemies: the Teen Titans and Kim Possible. With them out of the way, conquering cities should be much easier."

"I like this job already," Shego said, her right hand lighting up in green flames. "Who do I go for first?"

"Patience, apprentice," Slade said. "Though they are children, the Titans, and so far as I know Kim Possible, are quite intelligent. To rush into anything would be disastrous. We must wait until our strength is built up, then strike them all down."

"Okay," the green woman replied, her hand returning to normal. "Not really my style, but okay."

"What I need you to do," Slade instructed his apprentice, "is to plant this nanoscopic bug on one of their communicators." He held out his hand. In it was a barely visible silver dot. "Each of their communicators can locate every member of their team. With this bug installed, we will be able to track their locations so that we can find the right time and place to execute the plan. It is so small that will look practically invisible, even against bright yellow." He dropped the nanoscopic bug into a small plastic bag and handed it to Shego. "You will find at least one of the communicators at the football game the evening at Middleton High School. Kim Possible will be cheering. Judging by how well they're getting on, I'd say Starfire will probably be there as well. Find just one of their communicators, and bug it."

Shego looked at the camera feed. Starfire had found a cute floral sundress and was modeling it for Kim and Monique. "Here's what I don't get, slick," Shego said. "If they're going to be at the game, why can't I just crush them right there."

"Patience, apprentice," he said again. "You will have your chance to destroy Kim Possible. You merely need to wait until the timing is just right." He turned around as though he was leaving, but stopped before reaching the door. "I will also need the password to get into Dr. Drakken's invention storage room."

"That place?" Shego scoffed. "The room where he keeps all his great unfinished ideas? There is nothing worth anything in there. I mean, he keeps it locked up, but I've broken in a few times and none of those ideas are remotely good for anything."

"I want the password, apprentice," Slade repeated. "You are going to give me the password, and you are going to allow me to do whatever I need to do in there. Is that clear?"

"As crystal," Shego replied. "Now, excuse me for a minute. There is a mud mask that is calling my name, and you'd better hope this mission doesn't interrupt my personal spa time." She walked straight past Slade out the door.

"I will need to do something about her attitude," Slade said to himself, watching her go. "An apprentice must be respectful and obedient. Oh, but she will be. I'll be certain of that."


	13. Go Mad Dogs!

Kim and Starfire walked into the locker room together, balancing several bags of Club Banana spoils between them. Kim stuffed hers into her locker, searched around for a minute, then pulled out an extra cheer uniform.

"For the real?" Starfire asked, barely containing her excitement.

"Hey, you asked to try it out," said Kim. "We've let people do this before. You said you wanted to see what it was like to be a cheerleader, so here's your shot."

"Um, no. There is no way. Period," said a familiar voice. Kim and Star looked in its direction and saw Bonnie, already changed into her uniform. "She hasn't even gone through try-outs. She'll just mess us up."

"Funny," Kim returned. "I remember a time when I had a certain famous actress shadowing me, and a certain someone was all for her joining the squad even though she'd never even been to a real high school before."

"That was just for practice!" Bonnie defended. "This is an actual game! People are watching here, Kim!"

Kim turned to Starfire. "Starfire, do you remember the routine I showed you this afternoon?"

"Yes," the alien replied.

"Well, there you go," Kim said to Bonnie. "Now, is this really about the lack of try-outs, or about the eye shadow explosion?"

Bonnie didn't answer. She just waltzed straight out of the locker without giving either of the redheads a look. Once she was gone, Starfire took the extra uniform from Kim. Star put down her shopping bags and changed into it.

"Magnificent!" she said, admiring herself in the mirror behind the locker room door. "Though it is unfortunate that Robin will be unable to observe it."

Kim, now also changed, asked, "You talked about him a lot at the mall. Are you two together?"

"Yes," she replied, though not as happily as Kim had expected. "We are the together. The misfortune is that after the return of the Slade, we have had few of the chances to be the together. Our missions create the interferences quite often. The result is that we have had none of the dates or even the time alone together. It makes things much more of the complicated."

Kim nodded knowingly. "Drama. That is the most normal thing in the world for a teenager to have. Come on, we need to get out there before the game starts." Before heading out the door, Kim took out a duffel bag and added to its contents her Kimmunicator and both of the Titans communicators, just in case they got a call during the game.

Starfire did remember the routine, and got on pretty well with the other cheerleaders, except for Bonnie of course, who still held a grudge about the exploding makeup. She picked up everything else really quickly. It was like she was born to be a cheerleader. Once word got around that she could fly, the girls begged their captain to let her do some super cool midair stunts during halftime.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kim said. "Starfire's a natural, but she might not want the spotlight on her first time cheering…"

"Worry not, Kim!" Starfire instantly chimed in. "It would be the honor to fly during the halfway time." Really, she was so excited to be on the squad that she would have done anything they asked. Kim therefore had to rework the last bit of the halftime routine, but a couple run-throughs were all it took to bring the routine to perfection.

The spectators began to arrive and the cheerleaders took a break. Starfire heard a sound she recognized. It wasn't a car driving into the lot, but it was some kind of transportation device. She realized instantly what it was: the T-Ship!

The orange jet landed on the staff parking lot. Robin and Raven got out of their compartments. Seeing the blinding lights over the field and the bleachers starting to fill up, they knew that a football game was going on.

Raven couldn't help saying something sarcastic. "A football game. Soooo dangerous."

"Shut up," Robin muttered. He and Raven walked over to field, looking for any sign of Starfire. They were stopped at a table by the bleachers.

"Sorry, kids," the man sitting there said. "If you don't have a student ID, you've got to pay full price."

Starfire spotted her friends from where she was, grabbed Kim's hand, and sped straight over. "My friends!" Letting go of Kim, she gave Robin one of her famous hugs, though a little bit more affectionate and less circulation-stopping. She moved to do the same for Raven, but the cloaked girl backed away first, a bit uncomfortable with the usual gesture.

"Starfire?" Robin asked. "What are you doing here? And…why are you in a cheerleader uniform?"

She spun around. "Do you approve of it, Robin?"

Robin definitely approved of the yellow and purple crop top with matching skirt. She looked amazing. Robin was actually kind of stunned. "Y-yeah. I do."

She held up her hand so he could see her fingernails. They were painted Mad Dog colors. "Observe! Kim and I have gone to the mall of shopping, and we have decorated our nails of the fingers to match the colors of the school!" She held them up against her uniform to prove it.

While Starfire was modeling her nails, Kim jumped into the conversation. "So what are you two doing here? Did you hear any news?"

"No," said Robin, "we just wanted to check on Starfire." He hoped that didn't sound too creepy.

"I do not need the checking up," Starfire assured. "This afternoon was, I believe it's called 'the blast'! We visited the mall of shopping, and I sampled the coffee, and we purchased many clothing items at the club of bananas, and now Kim is allowing me to be a leader of the cheers for the day."

"That's great, Star," Robin said, relieved that everything was going fine.

"You know," Kim suggested, "as long as you're here, you could stay and watch the game. Ron's on the team, and I'll bet he'd go nuts if he saw you guys in the stands." Raven looked like she was about to refuse, but before she could, Kim turned to the man selling tickets. "Mr. O'Malley, would you mind if I call in a favor for my friends here? I'll pay for them later, if you want."

Mr. O'Malley smiled. "No problem, Kim. It's the least I can do after you saved my son from the avalanche last ski season."

"Oh, it's no big," she replied, guiding her friends past the ticket table and into the stadium.

"What was that all about?" Robin asked.

"When you save the world on a regular basis," Kim explained, "people are really happy to help you out. That's how I get transportation to most of my non-local missions. You can't drive everywhere."

Kim found Robin and Raven two seats in the front, near where the cheerleaders were. Raven was less than excited. She knew meditation would be impossible with all the screaming that was sure to occur, and she didn't have any of her books with her, not that that would have fared any better. She had never been into sports, and especially not football.

"So," she asked her team leader, "are we seriously just here to watch a high school football game?"

"Huh?" Robin replied, still staring at Starfire's cute cheerleader uniform.

Raven rolled her eyes. "I'm watching a football game surrounded by teenage hormones. Perfect. Just perfect. And I think I'm coming down with something. A-choo!" She sneezed the way she usually did when her feather allergies started acting up.

"G'lufnog!" Starfire said from where Kim had stationed her.

"Thanks," the dark girl muttered. She shut her eyes, crossed her legs, and repeated "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" softly in her futile attempt to meditate.

"Hey Raven!"

Raven cracked open one eye and saw a small, green boy with fangs and a purple and black uniform. "Beast Boy? I thought you were back at the Tower playing Mega Monkeys."

Beast Boy sat down next to her. "The game system was malfunctioning. Cyborg was still mad about what I apparently did to his car, so I thought I'd tag along with you guys. So, I transformed myself into a germ and hitched a ride on you."

"Whoa, whoa, back up," Raven said, opening her second eye. "You mean you could have helped Robin and me pilot the T-Ship, but instead chose to make me feel sick and scare me out of the blue as soon as I'd sneezed you out?"

"Yup. Your reaction just now was almost as entertaining as Mega Monkeys."

Raven just looked at him. Beast Boy expected some kind of response and waited anxiously for one. She neither did nor said anything for a few seconds. Then, she reached her hand out of her cloak and slapped his big pointed ear. She returned to reciting her mantra and shut her eyes.

"LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE MIDDLETON MAD DOGS!" the loudspeaker boomed.

"Ah!" She was shocked out of her meditation and had to put her hands on her seat to steady herself. Beast Boy laughed like he had seen the funniest thing in the world. She ignored him this time and shut her eyes again, repeating the magic words and taking deep breaths.

"YEAH!"

"MAD DOGS!"

"WHOO-HOO!"

"GO TEAM!"

The stands erupted with school spirit, breaking Raven's concentration so suddenly that she fell face-first onto the ground. She silently picked herself up and sat up in her seat, glaring at the closest person to her…Beast Boy.

"You've got something on your face, Rae," he snickered.

Her face was covered in a layer of dirt from the field. She wiped in off with her hand and muttered, "I hate football." Unfortunately for Raven, the game began. White jerseys with purple numbers slammed into black jerseys with red numbers. She tried to shut it all out, failed, gave up on the idea, and watched the players, pretending to care. Beast Boy slurped loudly on the slushy he had bought from the concessions stand.

Robin stopped admiring Starfire long enough to find the jersey labeled "Stoppable". Ron's admiration did feel a little bit creepy at times to the Teen Wonder, but he knew how much this would mean to him. Back when he did work with Batman, he would have jumped off a cliff if it meant he could get some praise from Bruce. Once he spotted him, it was hard to keep track of him in the sea of identical jerseys. There was one point when Ron got the ball and was immediately tackled by everybody on the other team, followed by everybody on his own team. Robin stood up, trying to see what happened. Kim rustled her pompoms nervously. Somehow, Ron was able to squeeze out of the mob without anyone noticing and ran for the other end of the field. By the time the pile of players broke up, he had crossed the final line of the field.

"TOUCHDOWN! THE MAD DOGS ARE BACK IN THE LEAD!"

Kim counted off the squad and led them in shouting, "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! What does that spell? Victory! Go Mad Dogs!" She added in her own message at the end. "Way to go, Ron!"

Robin stood up and waved at Kim's sidekick. "Yeah! Way to go!"

Ron was so excited to be cheered on by his sidekick role model that he dropped the ball he had been holding in celebration. He waved back before hustling back to Coach Barkin.

Back in the parking lot, something green and black climbed noiselessly over the fence, bypassing all ticket sales. She wasn't here for the game. She pushed a button on a little disc in her ear that had a bright green "S" on it.

"Slade, I'm in," she said. "So is the T-Ship. You sure don't want me to just take them out now?"

"No," Slade replied through the microscopic speaker. "Just find a communicator."

"It would be easier…"

"It's not about easy, apprentice, it's about following instructions. Find a communicator and insert the bug. That is all."

"If you say so, Mr. Bossy Boots."

She stepped under the bleachers and turned around so she could see through the openings between the layers of seats. She saw Robin, Raven and Beast Boy sitting in the front. They would make easy targets, but it wouldn't be easy to get their communicators off of them. She hadn't seen Cyborg anywhere, but it didn't matter. From what Slade had told her, his communicator was built into his arm. No way could she bug that without him seeing it. The only other two to find were Kim and Starfire. Personally, she would have preferred to bug Kim, but either one would do. She could see they were leading cheers in front of the stands together. But where were their communicators…?

"Excuse me, miss, but what are you doing under here?" a small freshman boy asked, finding the presence of a green-skinned woman underneath the bleachers alone kind of suspicious.

Shego pointed one glowing finger at him. "You never saw me here," she said threateningly.

The little freshman backed up. "N-n-no, I never saw you here."

"Good." She looked through the bleachers again and spotted a duffel bag with Kim's initials on it. That had to be where the communicators were. "On second thought," she told the boy, "I need you to get up there by the cheerleaders and grab me the duffel bag that says 'KP' on it. Make it quick!" She held up her glowing hand to remind him of his incentive. Terrified, he ran out of the bleachers toward the cheerleaders. Kim was conveniently occupied with explaining to Starfire the meaning of halftime, which was coming up soon, so he was able to sneak off with the bag without her noticing.

"Thanks, kid," said Shego, snatching it from him and searching through it. The communicators were down at the bottom, so she had to sift through water bottles, makeup, extra hair ties, a bottle of mustard (_Who brings their own mustard?_ she wondered), and other usual teen accessories first.

Raven suddenly tensed up. She sensed something wrong, something dark. "Robin," she said, "I feel something. It's near."

"What is?" he asked, remembering his earlier fear for Starfire.

"I don't know," she replied, "but I know I felt something like it at the villain convention. It's not Slade, but it's something bad. Or someone."

"ARE YOU READY FOR THE MIDDLETON MAD DOGS HALFTIME SHOW?!"

"Yeah we are!" Beast Boy shouted back.

"That's it," Raven decided. "I can't sense out anything with all these distractions. See you boys later." She transformed into her soul self, a dark force shaped like a raven, and disappeared from view.

"Looks like we're up," Kim told Starfire. "Just remember what we practiced. Try not to make a huge spectacle of yourself until the finale, though. Not that there's anything wrong with you," she quickly added, "it's just that we want it to be a surprise."

"All right," Starfire agreed, shaking her pompoms with a grin.

Back under the bleachers, Shego was getting very frustrated with the lack of organization in Kim's duffel bag. "A teen saves the world, you'd expect her to be less cluttered," she muttered, tossing out a bag of snacks.

"Um," the freshman boy said, reminding her of his presence, "I think that's Kim Possible's bag. I'm kind of friends with her brothers, so I don't really want her mad at me."

"Meaning?" Shego asked, looking up at him.

"Maybe I should…put it back?"

"You wish." Before he could protest further, she zapped him with enough green energy to knock him out cold. She returned to the bag. "Seriously, does this bag even have a bottom?"

The cheerleaders got into position on the field. Ron, taking a well-earned break, flipped on the music. The dance routine commenced. The crowd cheered.

Shego finally got her hands on a little yellow circle. It was either Kim's or Starfire's. That didn't really matter by this point. She unzipped the pocket on her boot and pulled out the tiny silver dot. Carefully, she stuck it onto the communicator. Slade was right. After only a couple of seconds, it blended in perfectly. Shego put everything back in the bag the way she'd found it. Suddenly, she heard a whoosh behind her.

"I don't believe that belongs to you," a monotone girl's voice said.

Shego looked in its direction and saw Raven floating just above the ground behind her, having resumed mortal form. "Oh," Shego replied, tucking in the last item and zipping it up, "you must be one of Kimmie's new friends. You want her stuff back? Here, take it!" She tossed the bag to Raven, who caught it with her powers, then set it on the ground. "Nothing in there worth stealing, trust me."

"Why are you here and what are you planning?" Raven demanded.

"Hey, I'm the sidekick here," she pointed out. "You want to know what's up? Ask the guy giving orders."

"Slade," Raven guessed. If she knew anything about Slade, it was that he hated to share power.

"Ooh, you're sharp," Shego teased. "If you weren't a good guy, I might actually like you." One of her hands lit up and she knocked Raven to the ground with a big green blast. "Or not!" She took off into the concessions crowd.

Raven called Robin on her communicator. "Shego's here," she said, "and she's heading for the concessions stand. We can't let her leave the game."

"We're on our way," he replied. "Beast Boy, Ron, let's go."


	14. Starbolts

Shego pushed her way through the line. She looked back and could see Robin's spikey hair sticking up close behind her. She slipped into the concessions booth and hid under the counter. Her ear piece buzzed.

"Apprentice, you have not yet returned," Slade said. "I am beginning to grow impatient."

"There's been a set-back," Shego whispered back, hoping she'd go unnoticed as the server felt around her for a bag of chips.

"Did you bug the communicator?" Slade asked.

"Yes, but I've been spotted. They don't know what I did, but they're chasing me."

"Who?"

Now Shego was the impatient one. "What are you, stupid? Team Possible and the Teen Titans. Who else would be chasing me?"

"Watch your tongue, apprentice," Slade warned.

The concessions seller reached down and accidentally brushed his hand against Shego's hair. "What the…?"

He never finished his sentence. She pulled him down with her, then threw him out the back of the booth. Seeing this, Robin, Beast Boy, Raven, and Ron Stoppable leaped over the counter after her. Robin whipped out his Bo staff.

"End of the line, Shego," he said.

Her hands lit up and she punched him in what would have been the mask, had he not blocked her first. He returned with a jump and kick to her stomach, which she gracefully dodged. "Not bad," she observed, grabbing his staff, "but not great." Her green energy grew stronger until she was finally able to break it in half. In response, Robin stepped behind her and shoved her off her balance. She fell, but kicked him down with her. Both picked themselves back up, and returned kick for punch, block for chop, and acrobatically avoiding injury in the nick of time.

Ron saw that now was his chance to help. "Rufus," he said to his naked rodent buddy, "get Kim." Rufus obediently scurried away toward the field.

Ron looked around for something to use as a weapon. He spied a big bag of hot dog buns. "Booyah!" he exclaimed, picking them up and swinging them around his head. When he let go, the bag soared through the air until it made contact with Shego's forehead, distracting her from fighting Robin. Instead, she lunged for Ron now.

Panicking, Ron grabbed the next closest item and held it in front of him. "I have a weapon!" he warned her.

She looked. So did Robin. So did Ron. It was a ketchup bottle.

"Heh…heh…heh…" he laughed nervously. "Can't blame a guy for trying, right?"

Shego shrugged and grabbed Robin. He squirmed out of her iron grip, took a few steps back, and threw a birdarang at her. She held up her hand to stop it and burned it to a crisp. She was about to launch a shot of green power at Robin, but suddenly felt a blast of a thick liquid on the back of her hair. She spun around and was hit by a stream of ketchup to the face. Blinded, she stumbled toward the back exit.

"And you thought ketchup wasn't a weapon," Ron said with pride in his own ingenuity.

The battle was invisible to the concessions line due to conveniently placed boxes of food, so they were all wondering where the server went and why their orders weren't being taken. The fighting was taking place in such a small area that Beast Boy could not find a way to help, or even get in. A man yelled, "Hey! Can we have some food, please?"

Beast Boy realized the man was talking to him. "I'm not actually the guy…" A few angry faces changed his answer. "I mean, uh, sure, dude. What do you want?"

The orders all poured in at once.

"I'll have a slushy and some barbecue chips!"

"I want a popsicle!"

"Two sodas and a pretzel!"

"One hot dog, please!"

"We want a diet soda and a slushy!"

"Can I get some onion rings?"

Beast Boy tried to remember how he did this back when he worked at Mega Meaty Meat. He passed food around and collected money, but everyone was ordering at once. He groaned. This was exactly like Mega Meaty Meat.

"People, calm down!" he said, trying to pour a slushy with one hand and open the cooler with another. "I'll get to you…just…a second…"

In the back, Robin blocked off the exit for Shego with one birdarang in each hand. The two of them fought, his birdarangs meeting her gloves in a perfect rhythm. Ron grabbed one unopened two liter soda in each hand, shook them both really hard, and aimed at Shego. "Watch out, Robin!" he said, before uncapping them both.

The force of the following blast pinned Ron to the wall behind him, but it also knocked Shego right into a stack made of very large bags of hamburger buns. The stack collapsed over her so that she was totally buried. Ron was unhurt because he was still wearing most of his football padding. Shego was unhurt because she landed in a pile of bread.

Ron and Robin walked carefully toward the mess. Just as the two of them reached out to take the top bag off, they were thrown back with a huge blast of green energy that made the hamburger buns explode in all directions. All the boxes of food and supplies felt the heat and toppled over. The glow and explosion were so bright that it scared away the rest of Beast Boy's customers. Shego stood up, hands on fire. It had taken a lot of anger to make that big of an energy bolt, and she was not anywhere near letting it go. She blasted through the back entrance of the snack shack and swung up onto the roof, then jumped from there onto the bleachers.

Meanwhile, the cheerleaders were pulling off their halftime routine as though they had been born doing it. The crowd that wasn't wondering what a scary green lady was doing on the snack shack's roof were curious as to why a pink naked mole rat suddenly ran up to the red haired girl doing the splits in the front row.

"Rufus?" Kim asked, still moving her arms according to the routine. "What's going on?"

Rufus squeaked and pointed at the top of the bleachers. Kim looked and saw Shego just as she landed on the top layer of bleachers.

"Oh no she didn't," Kim said, her eyes narrowing.

"What is wrong, friend Kim?" Starfire asked, sticking a cartwheel behind her. Kim pointed up. Starfire understood immediately. "Shego."

"Um, Kim," Bonnie said, "you're kind of holding up the dance."

Kim thought for a second, then said, "Tell everybody we're skipping to the human pyramid at the end now. Just do it!" She turned back to Starfire. "You know what I'm thinking?" Starfire nodded.

The plan Kim had made to include Starfire's flying had been to build up a human pyramid as the finale with her on top as usual, but have Starfire fly up from behind it at the last second and shoot off starbolts to look like fireworks. The other girls had been all over the idea. Now there was a slight change of plans.

The girls were confused about why their captain wanted to skip to the end of the routine, they weren't even two-thirds done with the song yet, but they followed orders. As soon as Kim was placed on the top of the human pyramid, Rufus clicked off the music and Starfire soared up from behind, picking up Kim by the arms and dropping her directly in Shego's path.

"Aw, did Kimmie finally come out to play?" Shego taunted. "Good, because that sidekick of yours was getting really annoying."

Kim blocked Shego's first move, swung her own high kick, and cartwheeled backward so that Shego's green flames just barely missed her. The two were evenly matched as always. The spectators began to worry about their own safety and left the bleachers, seeking refuge elsewhere and giving Shego the chance to kick Kim so that the teenager tumbled down the rows of seats and landed on the field. Shego leaped, and was about to land on her, but Raven pulled her cloak around Kim and both girls disappeared in a swirl of dark energy. Shego landed on all fours on the turf. She got up and looked around for Kim. "What the…?"

Raven appeared behind her, opened her dark cloak, and Kim jumped out, kicking Shego onto the ground. The super powered woman was down for only a second before springing back into the fight. Raven looked to her left and saw Ron Stoppable staring bug-eyed.

"What?" she asked, sounding genuinely annoyed.

"Just got to be honest," Ron said, "that cloak thing is both the creepiest thing and possibly the coolest thing I've seen in a while. The darkness and everything is major creepy zone, but it was totally awesome to watch." She didn't respond. The silence got a little bit uncomfortable. "Yeah, I'm going to go get Beast Boy out of the snack shack."

"You do that," Raven replied as he sprinted off to help.

Shego and Kim by now had taken the fight to the middle of the football field. Evidence of Shego's explosive energy blasts was all over the turf, as well as one collapsed folding table and a hole punched into the football team's Gatorade jug, which was spilling all over the sideline. Coach Barkin was having a terrible time getting his team together and controlling the general situation of panic.

Shego's ear piece buzzed. "Apprentice, what is going on? Why have you not yet returned?"

"On my way," she said, sliding under Kim's arm and throwing her own punch in return. "I'll be back in a sec. I've got some things to take care of first is all."

Slade listened to the sounds he heard coming from Shego and those around her. "Apprentice, I ordered you to bug the communicator and get out, not engage in combat. There will be plenty of time for that later."

"Easy for you to say," she retorted. "You didn't just get blasted by ketchup and two bottles of soda, then get discovered by Miss Possible over here."

"Who are you talking to?" Kim demanded, blocking one of Shego's hits.

"Leave there at once, apprentice," Slade directed. "I'm giving you an order."

"Believe me," Shego answered him, "if I could leave, I would."

By now, Robin had joined the fight too. Both teenagers took turns aiming blows at Shego, who took some and dodged others. Before long, they had cornered her at the end of the field. "Looks like you're out of options, Shego," Kim said smugly.

"You wish," Shego replied. She crouched down, then jumped into the air, turned a perfect flip, and landed on top of the goal post. She began raining shots of green energy down on her foes. Robin and Kim jumped, slid, and ducked to avoid getting burned.

Ron returned to the scene with Beast Boy and Raven. "They need a distraction," Raven observed.

Ron grinned. "It must be your lucky day! I happen to be a professional distraction creator, thanks to several years filling out the role of a loyal sidekick. Follow my lead!"

Shego was getting pretty frustrated with the fact that neither Robin nor Kim Possible would stand still for a moment. She paused her firing. A strange sight caught her eye. Namely, that of Ron Stoppable riding a green elephant who was standing on his hind legs like a circus trick. Ron waved his football helmet in the air. "Yee-haw! Giddy-up, Beast Boy!" Rufus stood tall on Beast Boy's elephant head.

"Charge!" he squealed, signaling the elephant to run forward, aiming for Shego.

She yelled something incomprehensible and jumped down, only to be caught in Beast Boy's trunk. She writhed and squirmed, then dug her sharp nails into his green flesh. He yelped and transformed into a turtle stuck in his shell. Ron landed on the ground with Rufus on top of him.

"Ron!" Kim exclaimed, rushing to her boyfriend's side.

Raven did the same thing. She held her hand over his head. "He's fine," she said, "though he should have been wearing his helmet." She glared at the now human Beast Boy. "No thanks to somebody."

"Hey," he insisted, "that chick has some sharp nails."

"He'll be back up in no time," she assured Kim, "just go help Robin get Shego."

"You're sure?" Kim asked.

"Positive. Go!" Her hand began to glow a kind of purplish grayish color, the way it normally did when she healed people.

Kim ran after Robin, who was chasing Shego, simultaneously dodging more green energy bolts. Before either of them could catch her, she had swung up onto the other side's goal post and was looking for a way out. She could just see the parking lot where she had left the hovercraft. If only she could get over there…

Someone new crossed her line of vision now. Someone with red hair, orange skin, a cheer uniform, and bright glowing green eyes. Starfire hovered threateningly in front of the villainess, each hand forming a starbolt. "I advise you to give up now," she said, her bolts growing larger by the second as she allowed herself to feel her righteous fury welling up. "I do not wish to harm you."

Shego did not answer with words. Instead, she jumped off the goal post, hands ablaze. Somehow her glowing fists met Starfire's. In an attempt to stay in the air, Shego grabbed Star's wrists and hung on tight. The combined energy of both their super powers ran through their bodies, even on the inside. From the ground, it looked like they were both enveloped in one huge ball of glowing green flame. They shut their eyes as they felt the burn.

Memories flashed before their eyes. There was only one other time when Shego had felt so much power so much like this surge into her. It was that fateful day when the meteorite crashed from space. In a moment, she relived it all. As the meteorite made contact, she had felt electrocuted, like someone had pumped a huge amount of energy into her body. When the smoke had cleared, she realized that she was still alive, and that the energy had stained her skin and given her power.

Starfire's memories flashed before her eyes too. The combined impact of her own starbolt and Shego's called her back to her days as a prisoner on a foreign ship. She had tried to forget what had happened there, but it all came back. She felt the energy surge into her as her cruel tormentors watched to see if she would explode. Her whole body felt like it was on fire on the inside, but once she broke free she discovered that she had retained much of the same energy. The only other person in her situation had been Blackfire. Why was this earth woman capable of releasing the same type of painful energy that had been forced onto her? The longer they stayed up there together, the more memories of torture Starfire endured.

The pain became too much for Shego first, who let go of Starfire's wrists and plummeted to the ground. She didn't land on her feet as though she had planned to fall. She crashed into the bushes, tearing her ketchup and soda stained uniform on some sharp branches. She looked up at the alien, confused about what had just happened. Starfire too fell to the ground, staring straight forward in shock. She felt like she might faint, so she grabbed the fence behind her to stable herself. Both gasped to catch their breath. Shego heard the other teen crime fighters coming toward the scene, so she sprinted to the hovercraft and took off into the night sky. She stopped just before losing sight of the school to observe the strange alien girl who had possessed the same power as she did. It was just so strange.

"Apprentice!" Slade said, appearing on the hovercraft's screen. "Are you quite finished? I am not accustomed to be kept waiting."

"Yeah," she said, turning her back to the football field and speeding forward. "I'll be there any minute." After the screen turned black, she lit up her right hand and looked uneasily at it, still not making any sense of what had just happened.

**(A/N: Yes, I am including some of Starfire's original comic book backstory. It is going to become important, but if you grew up with the cartoon and don't know much about the comics, you'll still understand it fine. I won't go too deep into it. If I did, I'd probably get everything wrong. Just know that before Starfire found her way to earth, she was tortured to see how much energy her body could take before exploding. She broke free before that could happen, and the result was her starbolts. The cartoon implies that the energy bolts from her eyes were more of a coming-of-age thing and that all her other powers were normal for Tamaranians. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but I'm sticking with it. Starfire is going to stay her PG-rated cartoon self personality wise. She's just having some darker backstory thrown in. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to point out the similarities between her powers and Shego's. It is interesting, isn't it? Both shoot green blasts of energy from their hands that was put onto them by something from space? What a coincidence.)**


	15. Tara, not Terra

Ron stood up with Raven's help. Kim ran over and hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay," she said once she let go. "I was really worried for a second there."

"Stoppable! Possible!" Mr. Barkin yelled, coming over. "Look at this place!"

They did. The field had burnt brown spots all over it, the snack shack had a gaping hole in the back, many of the bleachers were dented, and the football players were cowering like babies.

"I guess there's no third quarter," Ron said, trying to get a laugh out of his stoic teacher and coach.

"It'll be weeks before we get all this cleaned up!" Mr. Barkin stormed. "I don't know what just happened here to cause this, but I know that your names are written all over it, so start talking."

"Well, Mr. Barkin," Kim began, "it started when Raven sensed my arch nemesis's sidekick hiding under the bleachers, and then she and Ron and some of the Teen Titans started chasing Shego, and Beast Boy's superpower is transforming into animals, so he became an elephant, and Robin and I started fighting Shego on the field, but it looks like she blew up at least a fourth of the total surface area, and something freaky just happened with Starfire and Shego, so now she got away and I honestly have no clue what she wanted with us in the first place."

Mr. Barkin looked down as though he was analyzing a lab specimen. "I don't understand one word you just said," he told her, "but if you help me clean up this mess, I'll spare you the detentions."

"Yes!" Ron exclaimed with a fist pump. "That makes a whole month detention free for the Ronster!" Kim handed him a broom and his smile faded. "Clean up. Right."

"And who are you people supposed to be?" Mr. Barkin asked Raven and Beast Boy, who had also joined the group.

"I'm Raven," the blue girl said, "and the green one is Beast Boy. We're superheroes from Jump City. I assume you're familiar with Kim Possible's crime fighting?"

"Unfortunately," the teacher said.

"Her arch nemesis teamed up with ours," Raven explained. "That's why we're here. I would strongly advise you to avoid standing in the way of our mission, Mr. Barkin, for the fate of the world's sake."

"I've heard that one before," Mr. Barkin said skeptically.

Raven stood there silently, staring at Mr. Barkin for a few moments. She wasn't sensing any major negative vibes from him, so she could determine he wasn't a real threat. Still, she couldn't afford letting him delay the mission with late night clean up duty. She snapped her head to the side, looking at the football lying on the ground. It turned black, lifted up off the ground, and flew through the air until it hit Mr. Barkin in the chest with enough force to make him stumble back a couple of steps.

"Okay, that one's new," he admitted. "Fine. Stoppable, Possible, you're off clean up duty, but I've got my eye on you."

"Thanks, Raven," Kim said as she and Ron handed off their brooms to two other nearby students.

"Don't thank me yet," Raven told her. "We need to find out what happened tonight, and I doubt it's going to be pretty. Beast Boy, where's Robin?" No answer. The three teens looked around. He was nowhere. "Beast Boy?" Raven repeated. She finally spotted him running back toward the other cheerleaders. "Beast Boy!"

Beast Boy didn't hear her. All of his senses were focused on a head that was turned away from him. He couldn't see the face, but the hair was long, blonde, and beautiful. It had to be her. "Terra!" he called, skidding to a stop behind her. "Terra, it's you!"

She turned around. "Yeah, I'm Tara. Do I know you?"

He was wrong. Her face was not Terra's face. Looking at her now, he realized how blind he must have been to think she had been Terra in the first place. She was too tall, and her hair was a lighter shade of blonde. He must have been missing her so much that he thought he had seen her.

"Oh, no, wait, no," he stuttered awkwardly. "No, you're not…you're…sorry, it's not you…I mean…no, you're not Terra."

She giggled. Her laugh did sound a little bit like Terra's. "Yes I am, silly. My name's Tara. I go here. Who are you exactly?"

"Uh, I'm Boy Beast! I mean, Beast Boo! I mean, uh, hey, I'm Beast Boy." He tried to look cool by stretching out his arm to lean on a pole, but it turned out that there was no pole and he fell right over. Embarrassed, he transformed into a turtle and hid in his shell.

She giggled again. "You're kind of funny, Beast Boy."

He stuck his head out and turned back into human form. "You…you think I'm funny?" His eyes sparkled with joy.

"Sure," she said, brushing aside a strand of pale blonde hair. "But I still don't think we've met. Unless…we're not in English together are we? I always totally forget who's in that class."

"Well, no," he explained. "We've never met. From the back, you kind of looked like someone else I knew named Terra. She was, well, really cool. Awesome even. I haven't seen her in a long time, and when I saw you I thought I'd found her again."

Tara replied, "Aw, that is the cutest pickup line I have ever heard!" She quickly added, "Not like I fall for guys that quickly, but it was still adorable."

"What? No!" Beast Boy said. "I wasn't hitting on you. I honestly had a friend named Terra who kind of looks like you. She could move the earth with her powers. We thought she died, but then she came back, but she didn't remember anything and she had lost her super powers. I tried to bring her back into the team, but she didn't want to, and I haven't seen her since. It's true, I swear!"

Tara stopped giggling. "Wait, so you're, like, serious?" Beast Boy nodded. "Aw, that is so sad! Are you okay?"

"I guess," he shrugged. "I'm still getting used to it."

Bonnie could not help noticing that one of her closest followers, friend being not quite the right word, was getting friendly with the second green-skinned person seen at the game that night. This was not okay. Not okay at all. She strutted over and stood behind Tara, arms crossed and leaning back with an attitude.

"Tara," Bonnie said, "what are you doing?"

"I'm talking to Beast Boy," Tara replied with an innocent smile.

"Aren't you going out with Jason Morgan?" Bonnie asked.

"Not anymore," Tara explained. "We broke up, like, a few weeks ago. It was mutual. It just didn't work out. No big."

Bonnie tried to ignore that her right-hand girl had just used a Kim-ism. "That's…great, Tara, but Jason was the basketball star forward. Are you seriously trading down for this guy? I mean, he's green, he has fangs, and his ears are pointed. That's not even counting that he's friends with Kim Possible, of all people."

Tara looked down submissively, then looked back up and made eye contact with Bonnie. "We're not dating, just talking. He's actually kind of funny."

To prove it, Beast Boy turned himself into a platypus, chased his beaver tail, then transformed into a bear and gave Bonnie a big bear hug before returning to normal.

"Ew!" Bonnie brushed green fur off her purple and yellow uniform. She looked disapprovingly at the green boy standing next to Tara. "Fine, do whatever. He's still a loser." She tossed her head as she walked away, too put off by the bear encounter to make a reasonable comeback.

Robin wasted no time in running the rest of the length of the field and hopping the fence to Starfire's location. "Starfire!" he called, climbing down. "Star, what was that? What happened?"

She was still holding onto the chain-link fence. She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes were glowing bright green as though the battle was still going on. Her mind was still repeating the recent encounter with her past. She heard Robin's voice, but didn't recognize it as his. Instead, she let go of the fence, yelled something in Tamaranian, and held up a starbolt, prepared to throw it at whoever had approached her.

Robin held up his hands and stepped back. "Starfire, what's wrong with you? She's gone. It's just me." Her face showed no reaction. It was as if she didn't understand what he was saying. She stepped forward and yelled something else in Tamaranian. Robin was honestly feeling a little bit scared. "Star, I'm not going to hurt you. It's me. It's Robin."

"Robin?" she repeated, still prepared to shoot her green energy bolt at him. A sudden change came over her. Her starbolt faded and her arm dropped. Her eyes stopped glowing and looked almost afraid. She sank down onto her knees in the grass and covered her face with her hands so he couldn't see the two small tears escaping her eyes. "I…apologize," she stammered.

Robin sat down too and put his arms around her and held her close in an attempt to comfort her. He really had no idea what to say, since he had no idea why his girlfriend had almost turned on him, or why she seemed so traumatized. "It's okay," he said softly. "I'm here. I've got you. You're safe now."

She uncovered her face and held onto him, letting her tears fall onto his shoulder. They sat there for a few moments until she let go, prompting Robin to help her back up onto her feet. "Robin," she said, once she was standing up, "something very strange has occurred. There is something about the Shego's powers. She…" Starfire cut off abruptly. The mental wall she had built around the memories of her torture stopped her. She had never told her teammates much more about her past than had been revealed at their first meeting. In fact, it wasn't until she was sent home to be married that they found out she was of royal birth. She had always tried to forget her life as a prisoner and an experiment. Now she wasn't sure how to forget it again.

Sensing that Starfire wasn't going to elaborate on her statement, Robin took her hand and led her back to the field. "You don't have to tell me right now, Star," he said. "What matters is that you're all right." He called out to the others, "Titans and Team Possible! Team meeting on the bleachers!"

Raven, Ron, and Kim hurried over to the meeting location. Beast Boy wasn't listening. He was too busy telling Tara some of his famous, or infamous, jokes. "Okay, so why did the aardvark cross the road?" he asked.

"I don't know. Why?" she replied.

Before he could answer, Raven grabbed him by the ear and dragged him back to the rest of the team despite his futile resistance.

"Team," Robin said, addressing them all, "Shego had to have had a reason to come here tonight. My best guess is she's after us, or something we have. Kim, she's your villain. What do you think?"

"I don't know," Kim answered. "It didn't look like she'd stolen anything, and she seemed like she was in a hurry to leave. Raven, what was she doing when you found her?"

"She was looking through your duffel bag," Raven told her, "but I didn't notice her taking anything out. What do you have in there?"

"Just the usual accessories," Kim replied. "Nothing she would have wanted."

"Ooh," someone moaned nearby, "what happened?"

Kim got up and walked over to the sound of the voice. It was one of the freshmen lying on the ground. She thought she could recall him hanging out with the tweebs a couple of times. "Joey?" she asked, helping him up. "That's your name right?"

"Yeah, that's me," he said, rubbing his head where Shego had shocked him. "Ow, geez, that woman is crazy."

"That woman?" Kim parroted. "Was she wearing green and black and super sarcastic?"

"Y-y-yeah," he stuttered, "but she said not to tell."

"Not to tell what?" Joey didn't answer. "Joey, I need to know. She's a criminal. Trust me, she isn't in this for you. She could care less if you told."

He hesitated for a second, then looked Kim in the eyes. "She made me steal your duffel bag. She was looking for something. She knocked me out before she could find it, but it was something at the bottom. She was all frustrated because everything else was on top of it."

"Hm…" Kim thought, trying to remember what was at the bottom of her bag. Usually smaller items drifted down there under the bigger items. "Thanks for the help, Joey," she said as she walked back over to her teammates.

"Anytime, Kim!" he replied.

She picked up her bag and brought it over, sitting down on the bleachers. The rest of the teens stood in a circle around her. "Shego was after something at the bottom of this bag," she said as she unzipped it and proceeded to take her stuff out. Her hand brushed the bottom of the bag, then hit something small, hard and circular. She pulled it out. It was a Titans communicator. Next to it was a second one. She pulled that out too. "I wonder what Shego would have wanted with these."

The Teen Titans exchanged worried looks. "We know what she wanted," Beast Boy said. "Our communicators can locate any other Titan or honorary Titan."

"So she's trying to track us," Kim concluded.

"Exactly," said Robin. "It isn't the first time someone's tried to tamper with our communicators for that purpose. Last time it happened, we were nearly eliminated."

"Wow," Kim commented. "This is pretty serious stuff, then."

"The good news is she didn't take any of the communicators," Robin continued. "The bad news is that this means Slade is watching us. He knew we would be at the football game, or at least one of us would. He's trying to keep track of our locations. We have to be careful."

"But both communicators are right here," Ron pointed out. "We're safe, right?"

Robin shook his head. "You can never be too sure with Slade. From now on, we have to stick together. No more separating. If Slade somehow does find a way to track our movements, he'll know when we're alone and therefore more vulnerable."

"How's that going to work?" Beast Boy asked. "They're over here in Middleton while we live in Jump City."

Robin gave the matter some thought. By now, he was pretty sure Kim Possible was a trustworthy person, even if she was an average teenager. She had proven extremely helpful, and actually not so hard to get along with, once they had stopped being at each other's throats, that is. After the incident with Terra, he was reluctant to invite anybody he didn't know much about into Titans Tower. By now, he figured he knew enough about Kim to trust her.

"Beast Boy's right," he said, turning to Kim and Ron. "We can't very well stick together if we're this far away from each other. Kim, Ron, how would you like to spend some time with us at Titans Tower in Jump City?"

The Titans waited anxiously for a reply. Ron spoke first, excited being belief. "You mean we get to hang with real superheroes in a real superhero headquarters with all the cool gadgets and computers and blinking lights?"

"Don't forget the game system," Beast Boy added.

That was all Ron needed. "Booyah! I am so ready for this! What about you, KP?"

Kim was a little bit uneasy. "I don't know. My dad will freak if I'm out too late."

"We can call him from the tower," Robin suggested. "He seems like a reasonable guy. I think he'd understand."

"Come on, KP," Ron said, giving her a friendly nudge. "You fly halfway around the world on five minutes' notice almost every week. What's Jump City for one night?"

"Well," Kim admitted, "it is a Friday." She finally caved. "All right, I'm in. How are we getting there?"

"The T-Ship of course!" Beast Boy said. "Cyborg's not here, so you can ride in his seat, and I can turn into something small enough to carry so Ron can use mine."

"Just as long as you're not a germ again," Raven muttered.

"Sounds good," said Kim. "First, Starfire and I need to get our stuff out of the locker room. Star?"

Starfire, who had been strangely silent during this whole conversation, looked as if she had just woken up from a trance. "Yes? Oh! Of course! The room of lockers. Yes, let us go."

The two redheads walked away from the field, into the school building, through the halls, and into the locker room in complete silence. The closed the door behind them and opened up Kim's locker and the spare one Starfire had borrowed. As they were changing, Kim asked, "Hey, Starfire, are you okay?"

"What?"

"I asked if you're okay. Something freaky happened between you and Shego tonight. Do you have any idea what happened?"

Starfire turned her back and shook her head. "I do not."

Kim sighed. "Well, that's one more mystery to add to the list then. Another one is what's going on with Dr. Drakken. I've seen a lot of Shego, and from what Robin's saying I think Slade is pretty heavily involved here, but I haven't seen any evidence for Drakken's involvement. That's really odd."

Starfire was barely listening to her friend's rambling. It was true that she didn't understand what had happened, but there was one thing about it that was clear: Shego's powers were the same as her own. She couldn't understand why, how she got them, or how it was possible, but she knew a starbolt when she saw one. This was not the first instance either. At the chemical factory, she had thought Shego's energy blasts felt similar to her own. She had tried to inform Ron, but in the chaos that followed it had slipped her mind. Now that she had felt Shego's energy actually enter her skin, she knew that it had to be the same. The only time she could remember feeling that kind of energy entering her system was when she first got her starbolts. But then how was this possible? The only other one who had received the same torture was Blackfire. The thought of Blackfire and torture brought back unfriendly memories. She shut her eyes and tried to think about something happy. Mustard, Silkie, flowers, springtime, the mall, watching the sunrise with Robin. Yes, she could ignore those thoughts for now.

However, she knew the truth would come out soon enough. It had to. What she had discovered could be useful information. Even if it wasn't, she knew it would be a little while before that mental wall was fully rebuilt again. She hated to remember her past, but now that there was a connection between her and Shego, she had no choice. Still, she knew if she told her story now, she'd just break down into a sobbing mess, and that would be the exact opposite of helpful. _I must tell Robin_, she decided, _but not quite yet_.


	16. Slade's Plan

Shego leaned back in her chair, feet propped up on a desk, her neon green outfit standing out in the dark room. Slade paced across the floor in front of her, reviewing footage of the football stadium fight. He paused it and tossed away the remote.

"Very disappointing, apprentice," he said coolly. "I expected better from you."

"Mm-hm," she said back.

"I gave you an order," he continued, "and you disobeyed it. We had an agreement. I am not Dr. Drakken. When I give you a command, you obey it. Am I clear?"

"Mm-hm."

"Good. There will be plenty of time for you to fight once everything is in place. When that time comes, you will know, and you will take full advantage of it."

"Mm-hm."

"You were successful in bugging the communicator. For that I will commend you. They are now suspicious, but they do not see what is under their very noses. What matters is that we always stay two steps ahead. Isn't that right, apprentice?"

"Mm-hm."

Slade stopped speaking and looked at Shego curiously. "Shego, what time is it?"

"Mm-hm."

That gave it away. He marched over, grabbed a little white box lying in her lap, and yanked it away, pulling with it a white cord and two earbuds.

"Ow! Hey!" She reached to take them back, but he held them out of her reach. Her hands lit up. "You give me back my MC Honey right now!"

"You take one step closer," Slade warned, "and I'll break it." He held her MP3 player even higher and squeezed it tightly.

Shego scoffed, "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" He squeezed even tighter. The corner of the screen began to crack.

Shego could not live without her music, especially not MC Honey. She took two steps back and let her hands return to normal. "Okay, okay, you win. Now give it back."

He lowered his hand, but did not hand over the white box. "I think I'll keep it for a while. You could do without another distraction." He tucked it into a pocket on his belt and straightened up intimidatingly.

Now Shego was really angry. "What kind of sick person are you?" she demanded. "First you rush me to get out when I can't, then you take away my songs?" Her anger faded into amusement. "Well, what do you know? My new boss actually has an evil streak. Drakken could learn a thing or two from you. But…you are giving it back to me, right?"

"No. The only things that belong in your ears are my instructions. That is all."

"What? You…you can't do that!" Her hands began to glow again. "I need my MC Honey!"

"You may have your music player back," Slade reasoned, "when you have destroyed our enemies and set us off on the path to victory."

"What am I? Four?" Shego replied. "That the equivalent of saying I can't watch TV until I eat my vegetables."

"So be it."

"Okay, that's it!" Shego pounced on Slade. He dodged every move flawlessly. She reached into his pocket and grabbed her MP3 player, then tried to somersault away. Slade caught her leg first. She struggled, but he held her higher so that she was dangling upside down. He bent over to look her in the face.

"Let that be a lesson to you, apprentice," he said. "Defiance is not appreciated, even over the smallest matters." He let go of her leg and she dropped to the ground in a heap.

She stood up and brushed herself off, then carefully moved the MP3 player to the desk a safe distance away. "All right, lesson learned," she said, trying to save herself from getting in more trouble. "So, uh, the plan. Let's talk about that."

"First we destroy Team Possible and the Teen Titans," Slade said, "then we conquer the world one city at a time."

"That's cute," Shego persisted, "but pretty low on the details. I know we're tracking the kids' every move through their communicators, and I get how that's going to help. Really, I do. But I am completely in the dark about what happens next. If you were Dr. D, I'd have already put this plan in the 'way too complicated to make sense' column a long time ago. I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt here, but I think it's only fair to know what about this plan is going to be different from all the failed ones I've seen before."

Slade was glad that this conversation was becoming more civilized. "A wise question, apprentice. You recall that I required you to pretend that Dr. Drakken is still your master?"

"I wouldn't say 'master' is the best word," Shego replied, "but yeah."

"The reason, apprentice, is that he really is designing me a robot army. I gave him the final adjustments to make on his design just this morning. My intention is to move the entire operation over to my own lair, where I have the equipment necessary for mass production of whatever he comes up with. With an unlimited supply of soldiers fighting for us, nobody will dare stand against us."

"Sounds pretty smart," Shego commented.

"Yes, but I am not finished yet. I have a second project in mind for Dr. Drakken." He picked up the remote and pushed a few buttons. A window opened on the monitor revealing blueprints for what looked like a giant laser cannon. "This is why I needed the xenothium. I needed something extremely strong to bring this device to its full capacity of destruction."

Shego stared at it. She hated to admit it, but she was impressed. "One shot from that thing could incinerate a whole building," she said.

"How observant," Slade said, exiting out of the blueprints. "That weapon combined with a mass produced robot army ought to make things quite easy once our heroes are gone. However, we must take things one step at a time."

"So when do we tell Dr. D that he's out?" she asked.

"When he is no longer useful."

"So…when the army is built and the laser thingy of death is ready."

"Precisely."

Shego tried to hold in a laugh, but it escaped. "Sorry, sorry," she said, still laughing between syllables, "but, I mean, you actually expect Dr. D to build two remotely useful inventions? One, maybe. But two? Do you even know him? He'll blow it all up the first chance he gets. I mean, like, those synthodrones you liked so much? I could totally take those out just by myself!"

"Patience, apprentice. I have found that anyone can be efficient when properly motivated, even Dr. Drakken."

"Huh," she shrugged. "Well, it's your choice." She picked up her MP3 player and headphones from the desk. "Nice talk. Guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Slade turned his one eye toward her. "We aren't finished yet. There was something in the fight tonight that caught my eye." He pushed the necessary buttons to make a video clip appear on the screen, then motioned for her to come closer. She obeyed. "I want you to watch this once through, and then tell me about it."

He clicked play. Shego knew instantly what it was. It was the footage of her encounter with Starfire. On the screen, they connected with their powers at maximum, forming one giant ball of green fire, and from the sound of it pain too. Slade paused the video.

"Anything you wish to tell me?" he asked.

"I…I don't know," Shego admitted, though admitting she didn't know something was rare for her to do. "That girl, there was something weird about her. It's like we have the same powers, but that's impossible. I know how I got mine, and she wasn't there." She was careful not to reveal any details about who else had been there. It wouldn't be good to tell her new employer the shameful news that she used to be a good guy.

"She wasn't there," Slade repeated thoughtfully. "I think it would be safe to suggest that she, Starfire, was not on the planet at all when you received your powers. She comes from far away, on the planet Tamaran. Interestingly, your powers as well as your brothers' also came from space, did they not?"

Shego was startled at first, then hurt, and in a few seconds her emotions had progressed to full on anger. She had been hiding her heroic past ever since signing on with Drakken and had even helped her brothers to keep Kim from revealing it online. How dare Slade bring up such a forbidden topic? "Look, I know you're a professional stalker, but do you never draw the line anywhere? I mean, some things are just personal! How would you like it if I went snooping into your history?"

"Calm yourself, apprentice," Slade said, not sounding one bit worried. "I've known all along about your past as a hero. I find that former heroes make the best villains. I am also aware that you and your brothers received your super powers from a radioactive meteorite of unknown origin. You found out tonight that Starfire's powers look and feel exactly like your own, and that she too is from a relatively unknown part of outer space. Coincidence?"

"Maybe," Shego grunted, still angry.

"Or maybe not. I would say almost certainly not. There is a connection here. You have felt it, and I have seen it. All we need now is to find out how to use this knowledge to our advantage. Perhaps, if you had some sort of weakness…"

"Sorry, slick," Shego interrupted. "No kryptonite here. I don't have any weaknesses. Looks like you've hit a dead end." She waited a moment for him to argue. When he didn't, she continued, "I mean, if you want to sit here and research your hunch, be my guest, but you won't find anything. And if you're going to do that, you won't need me around. Adios."

Before Slade could protest, she had plugged MC Honey back into her ears, walked out the door, and shut it behind her. Slade waited until she was gone, then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and looked at it. It was the lock combination for Drakken's room of former failed inventions and untested ideas. However, Slade had a feeling that those were not the only things in that room.

After shutting down all the technology he had been using, Slade left the meeting room and found his way through a few dimly lit corridors and down two flights of stairs until he found a door with a sign saying, "TOP SECRET: KEEP OUT!" Underneath there was another sign saying, "That means you, Shego!" Slade couldn't help letting out an evil chuckle as he twisted the lock according to the combination. It clicked open and he entered, leaving the door cracked open so that Drakken wouldn't hear it close and get suspicious.

The inside of the room was even poorer lit than the rest of the lair, and it appeared that its contents were nothing but junk, as Shego had said. Broken pieces of robots and death rays were everywhere, and Slade had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on them. Drakken's problem with Kim Possible was evident on one wall, where he had taped a picture of her face over a dart board after a particularly brutal defeat and thrown three red darts at it. However, this was not of any interest to Slade. He searched high and low for one single item. It had to be here. He was sure of it.

About to give up, his one eye gave the room one last look over and…there it was! It was hidden well, wrapped up in many layers of blueprints, but the shape was undeniable. Slade reached the stick-shaped item and tore off the wrapping to reveal exactly what he was looking for: Aviarius's staff. This was the Go Team's one weakness. It could suck out the super powers of anyone with the Go Team Glow. Slade figured that Shego was unaware that it had found its way into Drakken's lair, since she surely would have used it against her brothers by now if she'd known. Drakken must have stolen it for himself after the battle with that bird-obsessed villain. But how it got here didn't matter. What mattered was that Slade had it now, and both Shego and Starfire were looking a lot less invincible.


	17. Of Parents, Video Games, and Booyahs

To be honest, Kim wasn't super impressed with Titans Tower. It was definitely a cool place. There was top notch tech everywhere, and it had a bird's eye view of the city. She definitely liked it and was kind of envious. However, the Go Team's Go Tower had had literally all of the same things, even down to the team jet parked in the underground garage.

Ron, however, was a different story. The moment the group reached the common room, he was bouncing off the walls, trying to look at and touch everything. "KP, check it out!" he said, turning on the front monitor. "The window's a screen too! I wonder how this works…"

Before he could find out, Raven gave him a death glare. That was enough to send Ron Stoppable back to his girlfriend's side saying, "Yeah, let's leave that one for the professionals."

"I thought I heard the T-Ship come back in," Cyborg said, his robotic legs stepping through the automatic doors into the common room. "Welcome back. I see you brought the new kids over. What do you think?" he asked, directing his question specifically toward Kim and Ron.

"It's really nice," Kim said, trying to be polite.

Ron didn't have to try. "Nice? Are you insane? This is the most badical HQ ever! Well, except for maybe Global Justice. They're pretty sweet. But this place rocks!"

Ron put his hand down on the counter of the kitchenette. It didn't feel like a counter. It felt kind of…squishy? He looked where his hand was, let out a high pitched scream, and jumped back several feet. A little animal was there. It looked kind of like a giant pink maggot with vision problems.

Starfire ran behind the counter and picked up the squishy creature with a smile, hugging it close. "Silkie! Who's Starfire's favorite little mutant? You are! Yes you are!"

"That's your pet?" Kim asked, not quite believing it.

"Yes," Starfire replied, putting Silkie back on the counter. "His name is Silkie. He is a mutated silkworm that Beast Boy stole from the Killer Moth, but he is not evil now. He is my little bumgorf." She patted her bumgorf on the head affectionately.

"Well," Kim whispered to Ron, "I am never going to question your choice of pet again."

"Kim, we've been over this," Ron corrected her. "Rufus is a pocket companion, not a pet. We are all equals in the circle of life. Except monkeys. Monkeys are evil. Never trust a monkey."

"We think Slade might be trying to track us through our communicators," Robin informed Cyborg. "I thought it would be best to stick together from here on out, so I brought Kim and Ron back here."

"Good idea," Cyborg nodded. "Last time we all separated while being tracked, we were nearly flash frozen."

"Don't remind me," said Robin. That disaster had been only a month ago, and the whole team remembered it like it was yesterday.

While Robin updated Cyborg on what had happened at the football game, the rest of the team sat down on the couch with Kim and Ron. Beast Boy took out a video game disc. "Either of you play Mega Monkeys?" he asked, showing it to them proudly.

Ron shook his head. "Never the monkeys."

Kim enlightened the green boy. "Ron's had an irrational fear of monkeys ever since going to summer camp when he was little."

"Camp Wanaweep," Ron said, a shiver going up his spine. "One of those things that can traumatize a child for life."

Beast Boy shrugged and put Mega Monkeys down. "Hey, it's okay. Everybody's got to be scared of something."

"Beast Boy is terrified of meat," Raven volunteered, making her presence known for the first time since entering the room.

"Am not!" BB protested.

"You have nightmares about hot dogs," Raven reminded him. "And bacon. And burgers. And bacon double cheeseburgers with hot dog arms."

"Wha…how did you know about that?"

Instead of answering, Raven pulled up her hood, opened a book, and began silently reading. It was a convenient way to hide the tiny smile forming on her face.

Beast Boy shrugged again. "Creepy as usual," he said. He stuck his hand into the games box and fished out another game. "You don't have any fear of robots, do you Ron?"

"Um…what kind of robots?" Ron asked. Robots were nowhere near monkeys on his list of fears, but sometimes there were exceptions.

Beast Boy handed him the disc. "The kind in RoboBattle 2.0. It's Cyborg's favorite."

Ron smiled. "Are you kidding me? I love this game! I've only played it, like, fifty million times."

"You do realize it's only been out for a week, right?" Beast Boy asked.

"He got a copy in advance," Kim explained, "after we defeated Drakken last year. He had stolen designs from Mr. Nakasumi's toy factory in Tokyo and turned them into these weird evil robots. To pay us back, Mr. Nakasumi let us have one."

Beast Boy's eyes widened. "Dude, you just got a coolness upgrade. The only problem is, the game system is busted. As soon as Robin's done talking to Cy, I'll get him over here to fix it."

Kim, Ron, and Beast Boy looked back. Robin and Cyborg didn't look like they'd be done anytime soon. Kim reached into her bag and pulled out her Kimmunicator. "You know, there is somebody else who can probably fix it." She turned it on and waited for Wade's face to appear.

"What's up, Kim?" he asked, slurping on his soda.

"What do you know about fixing computer game systems?" Kim asked the young genius.

"A lot," he replied.

"Great," she said. "We're staying in Titans Tower, and apparently their system is malfunctioning. Think you can do something about it?"

"Sure I can. Plug me in!" A cord with a plug at the end came out of the Kimmunicator. Kim found a matching hole in the game system and stuck it in. From Wade's perspective, the inside of the game appeared on his computer screen. "Oh, I see the problem," he said. "Don't worry, this is easy to fix." He typed a bunch of computer codes on his keyboard. The messages were sent through the cord, into the game box. The other teens heard things shifting around inside. He squinted at the screen and typed some more.

"Wow, he's really good at this," Beast Boy commented.

"What do you think I do in my free time?" Wade asked.

"I don't know," Ron said. "Eat, sleep, build more computers. The options are pretty limited when you never leave your room."

"…and that's why I decided it would be safer to stick together from here on out," Robin finished telling Cyborg back by the entrance to the room.

Cy nodded. "Good idea. Last time we were being tracked, we were nearly flash frozen because we got separated."

"Don't remind me," Robin said. That incident had been only a month ago, but it felt like yesterday. Robin had actually been the only non-honorary Titan who was frozen. It wasn't anything he enjoyed remembering.

"He didn't actually get a communicator, though, right?" Cyborg asked hopefully.

"No," said Robin. "That's the funny part. I don't know much about Shego, but I know if somebody working for Slade failed to steal something for him, he would make them go back for it, not tell them to run." That statement brought back some unsettling memories about when he had been forced to work for Slade. He had tried to avoid fighting the other Titans by not stealing what Slade had commanded him to take, but was ordered to fight anyway. He pushed the memories back into yet another dark corner of his mind for the time being.

"Huh. But if he wasn't trying to steal the communicators, what was he after?" Cyborg wondered.

"I don't know," said Robin, "but until we find out, we can't be too careful. Shego's pretty dangerous. I'd like to avoid tangling with her at least until we've got a plan."

"Definitely," his robotic friend agreed.

"Yo, Cy!" Beast Boy called from the couch. "I think you're position of Technology Expert might have some competition."

Cyborg and Robin hurried over to see what was happening. They saw Kim's blue Kimmunicator plugged into the video game console, with Wade scrolling through code on his computer.

"She should be good to go," Wade said, hitting the Enter key. "Unplug me, wait a few seconds, then turn her back on."

Kim did exactly as she was told. She pulled out the cord, waited a few seconds, then pushed the power button. The system vibrated like it was working. Beast Boy held up the game disc. "Moment of truth, dudes," he said as he stuck in into its slot.

Everyone held their breath, waiting anxiously for the game to work. Suddenly, the screen on the window came to life with colorful graphics featuring brightly colored robot fighters. "Yes!" Ron said, giving Beast Boy a high-five. "Wade, my man, you have done it again."

"No big," Wade replied.

Starfire had by now returned from feeding Silkie and sat between Kim and Raven, holding her pet in her arms. "What is thing that is not big that everyone is often referring to?" she asked.

"It's just something we say where I'm from," Kim explained.

"Like the 'cool'?" Starfire asked.

"Exactly. 'No big' is short for 'no big deal', just like 'as if' is like 'as if that were true'."

Starfire said all of the new phrases over in her head one at a time. "You normal teenagers have very strange ways of speaking," she concluded.

Silkie started squirming, so Starfire put him down. As Ron and Beast Boy selected their robot characters, Rufus crawled out of Ron's pocket and took a look around at his strange surroundings. He climbed down the cushions and started sniffing for food. Suddenly, he saw a giant bug face staring at him.

"Hi there!" Rufus squeaked, waving his little pink paw.

Silkie responded by licking the naked mole rat's face, leaving a streak of slobber.

Rufus wiped it off, then ran under the coffee table. Silkie followed him. An adorable game of tag started, which continued around the room until Rufus squeaked something to Silkie that prompted the mutant larva to lead his new friend on an adventure out the automatic door and into the hallway.

"Aw," Starfire said, clasping her hands together. "Silkie has made the friends with Rufus." The look on her face was that of a proud k'norfka.

Ron and Beast Boy were way into their game. Their robot avatars punched and kicked each other on the screen, and their thumbs were going up and down all over their controllers. "Your green robot is toast once I unleash my full power!" Ron taunted.

"Oh yeah? Look who just got another life!" Beast Boy returned, as his avatar jumped up to grab a bonus.

The two gamers continued their good-natured banter. The Kimmunicator started buzzing in Kim's hand. Kim held it up and turned it on, with Starfire looking over her shoulder curiously. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"It's your dad," Wade told her. "He's on video chat and wants to talk to you."

Kim rolled her eyes. "I knew this was going to happen. Put him through, Wade."

Wade hit a couple of buttons and the screen was split in half between him and Mr. Dr. Possible. "Kimmie," her dad said, "where exactly are you? Your mother said you'd be home be now."

"Sorry, Dad," Kim said. "There have been some interesting developments on my current mission. I had to go to Jump City."

"The mission with Victor Stone?"

"Yeah, that one. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm in Titans Tower right now."

Dr. Possible listened to the faint sounds of Beast Boy and Ron yelling at each other's robots. "It doesn't sound like you're on a mission."

"I am," she said quickly. "We think we might be being tracked, so Robin thought it would be safer to stick together while we look for Slade and Drakken."

Her father crossed his arms. "How long are you planning to be sticking together?"

"As long as we have to," she replied.

"Kimmie, you know how I feel about you staying out late, especially if there are boys."

"But Dad…"

"No buts, honey. Who else is with you?"

"Ron, Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg…I mean Victor. They're the same people you met yesterday."

"I'm just not very comfortable with the number of boys in that group."

Robin leaned over to see the screen. "Is everything all right, Kim?" he asked.

"My dad isn't so sure about me spending all night here," she explained.

"Your daughter's in very good hands, Dr. Possible," Robin assured him.

Cyborg too joined the conversation. "Hey, Dr. Possible," he said cheerfully.

"Oh, hi, Victor," Kim's dad said back.

"You know, I think you and I have some catching up to do," Cyborg said, taking the Kimmunicator from Kim. "I'll handle this," he whispered to Kim before walking out of the room, chatting with the friend of his parents.

Once he had gone, Kim struck up the conversation with the heroes around her. "So…this is where you all live?"

"Certainly," Starfire answered. "It is my favorite place in the universe, even more than the Swamp Moons of Drenthax Four."

"What about your parents?" Kim asked. "I don't see any of them calling to tell you you're staying out too late. Are they here or…"

"No parents," Robin told her. "No parents, no school, and no secret identities."

Kim thought for a second. "Isn't that illegal?" she asked.

"Cyborg is conveniently eighteen years old," Robin explained. "As long as we do our job of protecting the city, and Cyborg is willing to answer for us, the city doesn't bother us about that."

Ron looked up from his game for a second. "Don't you miss your families?" he asked, returning just in time to dodge a punch from BB's robot.

"Dude," Beast Boy replied, still focusing on the game with his eyes, "my family's long gone. Cy's got a dad, but they don't talk much. Star's only family is a sister who hates her. Robin's real family is gone too, and he doesn't talk with Batman very often either."

"What about Raven's family?" Kim asked.

Raven glared over the top of her book. "You don't want to know."

"I'm sorry," Kim said, "I didn't mean to…"

Starfire patted her shoulder encouragingly. "Worry not, friend Kim. We may not live the lives of the ordinary teenagers, but we have each other, and we have the Tower. This is our home, and it is all we need."

"But you guys never even get to be normal teens," Kim pointed out. "Are you really just heroes all the time?"

Robin couldn't help looking at Starfire when he heard Kim's question. It sounded almost exactly like what she had asked him in Tokyo. "We try not to be heroes all the time," he said. "I'm probably the worst offender, but I'm working on it."

"That why you haven't asked Starfire out yet?" a voice whispered in Robin's ear.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, looking up and seeing a familiar half metal face. "Cyborg, how long have you been standing there?"

Cyborg laughed. "Not too long." He handed Kim back her little blue device. "I took care of everything. You can spend the night as long as you check in first thing in the morning and don't do anything foolish. His words, not mine."

"How did you convince him?" Kim asked, finding this hard to believe.

"It's amazing what playing the 'friend of the family' card will do," he answered.

On the giant monitor, the each robot was down to its last life. Ron delivered one final blow to the green avatar. The game said, "Game over! Blue wins!"

"No!" Beast Boy cried.

"Booyah!" Ron shouted. "Who's the man? This guy!"

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you say, 'booyah'?" Cyborg asked, walking over to the other end of the couch.

"Yep," said Ron, still beaming with pride at his accomplishment. "It's my catchphrase."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's my catchphrase," Cy corrected him.

"Excuse me," Ron argued, "but I have been saying booyah since…help me out, KP."

Kim tried to remember when Ron had first picked up his slogan. "Um…you've been saying it as long as I can remember," she said.

"Booyah," Ron said, emphasizing his point.

Cyborg stared down the blonde boy with his one human and one robot eye. "All right, Ron. We'll see who's the rightful booyah-sayer right here and now. BB, gimme your controller." Beast Boy handed it off to his larger friend. "We're playing a new round, you and me, right now."

Ron smiled. "I beat Beast Boy, I can totally take you down."

"Anybody can beat Beast Boy," Cyborg said. "Did he mention this is my favorite game?"

The two boys began selecting their robot avatars and a new game began, with everyone else in the room watching intently.

**(A/N: Hey! Sorry about the really late post. I just started school, so I won't be able to post as often now. Still, I will try to keep it up. About Cyborg's age in this chapter, I don't know what his age was supposed to be in the show, but he always looked older than the rest of the team, so I always imagined him to be around eighteen or nineteen, while the rest were in the fourteen to seventeen range. Since it'll probably be a while before I post again, let me just say that Slade is about to create some serious drama within his team. You just can't leave criminal masterminds alone with power-controlling staffs, can you?)**


	18. Betrayal

Dr. Drakken wiped the sweat from his brow as he tightened one last screw on his xenothium-powered cannon. This was one thing even Shego couldn't deny he was good at. Once the screw was fully in, he stepped back and admired his masterpiece. This super weapon could easily disintegrate skyscrapers in seconds. "Shego!" he shouted, feeling the need to explain his genius to somebody.

There was no answer.

"Shego!"

Still nothing.

"Hm," he thought aloud. "She's probably getting her nails done again or something. I don't see why, if she wears gloves all the time. Oh well. I could always give Kim Possible a call and get a head start on my gloating."

"Ever considered you do that too much?" a deep voice asked.

Drakken spun around and saw Slade standing right behind him, in the control seat of the cannon. "You," he stuttered, "you…really move quietly for someone wearing so much metal."

"Why thank you," Slade replied. "I like this design very much, Doctor. You really have outdone yourself. My only question is if it is, say, transportable?"

Drakken beamed with pride. "I knew you'd ask about that. I know I'd find it pretty difficult to take over the world without being able to move locations. Watch this."

His big blue finger pressed a red button on the body of the cannon. Each piece of the device folded in on itself until it was reduced to a box only a little bit larger than Slade. "Not exactly pocket sized," Drakken explained, "but the closest I could get without damaging the machinery. Just load it into whatever car or jet you have in mind, press the button again, and bam! Instant death ray!"

He looked to his ally for approval. Because it was impossible to view Slade's face, Drakken was forced to wait for a verbal comment. Slade finally approved. "Precisely what I hoped you would come up with. Doctor Drakken, you have proven yourself most capable."

"Oh," Drakken said, faking modesty, "it's only been a life-long passion of mine to rule the world and tinker with dangerous machines in the process. As a nemesis of mine would say, no big."

"Thank you very much, Doctor." Slade turned away and began to walk out of the room. "If you will excuse me, I have some plans to attend to."

"Oh, by all means go," Drakken said. "Anything you want me to do while you…"

"Just stay there. I will come back shortly to discuss your part in our greater adventures."

Drakken sat down in a chair. Once Slade had been gone for a few minutes, he realized that sitting in one place was kind of boring. "When will he get back?" the mad scientist wondered. He started harmlessly whistling an Oh Boyz tune.

Slade passed through a few dark corridors, the sinister kind one would expect in an evil lair, until he found one slightly less sinister looking door. It was painted bright green and had a "Do not disturb" sign hung on the knob. He ignored the sign, took out a key, and unlocked the door.

"Apprentice, are you in there?"

"Not mentally," a woman's voice replied from the other side. "Five more minutes."

He pretended he didn't hear her and turned the knob, opened the door, and stepped into the green and black themed room. Shego had made herself completely at home in this room as soon as the lair was built. There were even a few posters of her favorite hip-hop artists on one wall. Currently, she was reclining in a black spa chair, cucumbers covering her eyes and white facial products covering her face. Her hair was wrapped up in a green towel, and she was wearing a fluffy bright green robe. Her nails, no longer under their gloves, shone black like they had just been painted. They reached up to lift one cucumber halfway off one eye, then set it back down. "I said five more minutes," she reminded Slade.

"I disagreed," he replied. "There is a matter of great importance that I wish to share with you."

"Will it still be there in five minutes?"

He sighed, exasperated. "Can you not do this another time?"

"Well, now that you've been talking so long it's probably only four more minutes. I need this. You try living with an incompetent blue supposed genius bent on a new take-over-the-world scheme every week. Stress relief is basically required." She lifted the other cucumber and looked at him. "Four minutes. Out." The cucumber fell back down.

Slade stood tall over her, intending to intimidate, but the effect was lost due to the cucumbers. "Apprentice, I order you to listen to me right now."

"I've got a name," she said. "I've also got four minutes left until that timer goes off. Either get out or join in."

Appalled at the very idea of joining in, Slade walked across the room to the timer Shego had referenced. He held down the top button and changed the time to go off in exactly ten seconds. He walked silently to Shego's side, put it up to her ear, and…

MC Honey nearly broke her eardrums.

Shego jumped out of her seat like she had been shocked. She took off her cucumbers with one hand and used the other now fiery hand to grab the alarm clock and throw it against the wall, silencing it. Now that she had taken out her anger on the music, she advanced toward Slade, her second hand glowing so hot that it shriveled and quickly incinerated the cucumber slices.

"You'd better have something really important to say," she said, pointing a green glowing finger at the metal-masked man. "I swear, if this could have waited, you are going to so regret what you just did."

He revealed no sign of fear. Instead, he calmly began to speak to his apprentice. "I shall allow you to be the judge of that. I actually have two things to show you. The first is this." He pulled out from behind him a black bodysuit with neon green lines. There was a green "S" in Slade's usual font choice. "It's a battle suit. You'll find it similar to Kim Possible's, with some modifications."

Shego, her hands no longer glowing, crossed her arms and shook her head. "I don't need any battle suit to fight Kimmie. I've got enough tricks up my sleeve without any help."

Slade set it down on her spa chair and continued, "But you had some difficulty fighting Kim Possible in addition to the Titans. This suit is capable of enhancing your powers to their purest, strongest level possible." He pointed out the neon green streaks along the arms. "I know you're unaccustomed to it, but it's sort of a tradition of mine. New apprentice, new uniform."

Shego inspected it. The suit was made of her two signature colors, and she couldn't really argue with enhanced powers. She faced him again. "What's the second thing you wanted to show me?" she asked.

"It requires going into the meeting room," Slade answered, "and based on your current appearance, I do not believe you wish to do so."

Shego looked down at her robe suddenly, then in the mirror, where she saw her face still covered in white facial cream and her black hair poking sloppily out of her towel. She would have blushed from embarrassment, but green skin tends to hide that pretty well. "Um, yeah. I'll be out in a second," she said, recovering.

Slade paused before walking out the door. "Apprentice, you will at least try on the battle suit, will you not?"

She looked at where it lay on the chair and shrugged. "Sure. Couldn't hurt anything."

"Good." He closed the door and walked away to the meeting room.

Shego joined him about five minutes later, dressed in the black battle suit. The neon green streaks and initial stood out in sharp contrast. Slade was less than pleased with her timing. "How long does it take to dress and walk a few feet?" he questioned her.

"You say that the day you have to put on makeup and blow dry your hair," she retorted, taking a seat and propping her feet up on the table. "I've got to say, though, this suit is really comfortable, and it doesn't look half bad on me."

Slade stood in front of her and said, "I'm glad you like it. I was able to copy state of the art technology to increase the power going toward your hands during battle. Wait until then to try it out. The matter I wish to speak of is how I found this technology, and how it relates to what happened at the football game."

Shego put her feet down. "What about it?"

Slade pressed some buttons so that the big screen showed a picture of the green glowing confrontation of a few hours ago. "You and Starfire had a connection," he said, gesturing to the image. "You admitted it. After a little bit of research, I concluded that your powers come from the same source. I don't know how she got hers, but yours came from a meteorite probably from a very far away galaxy. Presumably, Starfire's."

Shego nodded, but she wasn't hearing anything new.

"I did a little research," Slade continued, "and found that there is one item made from the same mineral as that fateful rainbow meteorite. Any power for which that mineral is a source can be removed and returned by this item. You ought to remember it well: Aviarius's staff."

Shego now looked like she cared just a bit. "So that's how that thing worked. Should I go out on a limb here and say you're thinking about finding it and using it on Starfire to eliminate one of the good guys? I'm more than happy to steal it for you, as soon as I figure out where it is."

"That's the thing I wished to speak with you about, apprentice. The last time you fought Aviarius, you dropped the staff just before being rescued by Dr. Drakken. Some might even say you…handed it off willingly."

"Ridiculous!" she exclaimed defensively. "I'd never help my brothers like that! And for the record, I didn't need saving."

"Perhaps. However, Dr. Drakken thought you were going soft. He even told you so. The fact is, apprentice, he didn't trust you after that near turn to good. You have never been the most obedient or respectful of sidekicks. Once he saw you seeming to break from what he wanted, he went back and stole the staff for himself, then repaired the broken shards to restore its power. His intention was to use it on you as soon as you became unmanageable, in other words, to betray you."

Shego was silent for a second, then fell out of her chair laughing like a hyena. "Dr. Drakken? Betraying?" she said between laughs. "That doofus couldn't steal anything without me! Ha ha…he couldn't think of anything that evil, no way! Oh, this is just too good!"

"Then," Slade spoke over her laughter, "how would you explain this?"

A long stick stuck into the ground next to her. She quit laughing and looked up, seeing at its top the rainbow jewel of Aviarius. She stood up and stared at it in wonder. "No," she said. "That's…that's not possible. Who gave you this?" she demanded hostilely. "Was it my brothers? Where did you find it?"

She shut up as soon as he started to talk. "I found it in the same room you gave me the combination to get into. I was merely intending to take inventory, but this was too important not to be addressed. It was from this very staff that I copied the technology for your new battle suit. Do you still doubt, apprentice? Is there any other explanation?"

Shego shrank back a few steps, still gazing at the staff. She wasn't scared, of course, just shocked. Dr. Drakken betraying her? It seemed completely out of his capacity. But Slade had to be telling the truth. How else could the staff have gotten here? Drakken knew that the staff was her only weakness. He was the only other villain besides Aviarius who did know. But how dare he try to use it against her! A little trickery here and there was all a part of a villain's life, but messing with her powers was one step over the line. Her anger boiled and she felt the energy rush to her hands, which began to glow bright green, brighter than ever before.

"He is going to pay for this," she said. "Where is that blue-faced dork?"

Slade pointed out the door. Shego ran out and found Drakken there, now having found a crossword puzzle and being stuck on number 27. "Dr. D, you've got some explaining to do!" she yelled, taking away his puzzle and burning it to a crisp.

"Aw," he said. "I almost had it." He stood up, trying to look dignified. He failed. "Explaining about what, Shego?" he asked. "About my magnificent new invention?"

"About this," Slade said, stepping into the light and holding up the restored staff.

Drakken paled. "Well, you see, I was going to tell you about it sometime…"

Shego grabbed his shirt. "I know everything. You were planning to use that thing against me, weren't you? You thought I was going soft, so you wanted to get rid of me."

"What?" Drakken said, looking honestly confused. "That's not why…I didn't…Slade, you've been watching me for years. You said so. She won't believe me. You tell her why I did it."

Slade was probably smiling evilly under his mask. "But, Doctor, I already have." He turned his back, pressed a button on the control panel in front of the room, and a cage came up from the floor, shutting itself around Dr. Drakken. "Shego works for me now," Slade explained, facing Drakken again. "She knows who the real villain is."

"But," the caged scientist protested, "I made your robots and your death ray! You can't do this without me!"

"Your services have proven most helpful," Slade replied, "but your job is finished. I suppose I can be merciful and allow you to work for me as a handyman. I would let you out of the cage, but she would probably tear you to pieces."

Drakken looked uneasily at Shego. "Er…probably right."

Slade now addressed his apprentice. "Tonight we move to my headquarters in Jump City. Tomorrow, you will fight the Titans."

**(A/N: But why did Drakken really fix the staff? Slade, you just ruin everything.)**


	19. A Long Story

"Bam! Pow! In your face, booyah wannabe!"

"You keep saying that when I knock your robo butt all the way to Tokyo and back!"

"Oh yeah, well you ain't seen nothin' yet! Turbo blast!"

"You're going to have to try harder, Cy. I've got mad gamer skills, and my thumbs can keep going all night long!"

Kim tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder. "Ron," she said, "you've already played five rounds. Just let the booyah thing go already."

"KP," he said seriously, "that catchphrase is a piece of my essential Ronness. Nobody messes with the Ronness and gets away with it."

Kim looked Cyborg over. "Not even if they're twice your size, half robot, and capable of blowing you to bits in real life if they wanted to?"

Ron shook his head. "Nope." His avatar gave one final punch to Cyborg's, leading Ron to shout, "Yes! That makes three to three! One more game, and the tie will be broken by yours truly. Then we'll see who keeps the epic slogan."

Cyborg put his controller down. "I don't know about that. If we're gonna look for Slade tomorrow, we'll need to get some rest. You kids need it more than I do."

Ron looked Cyborg in the eyes. "One more round. Winner take all."

"By all, you mean the right to say 'booyah'?" Kim clarified, still not believing either of them was taking this so seriously.

"Sure do," Ron replied. "You in, Cyborg?"

Cyborg sighed and picked up his controller. "One more. But just to make sure we're not up too late…" He changed the game mode to a timed match. "This ought to keep us on schedule."

As they began their final round, Kim got up and wandered away from the gamers. When dealing with Ron, it was usually best to allow his stranger habits to just happen.

The Tower phone rang, beeping a familiar pattern. Starfire picked it up. "Greetings," she said. "This is Starfire." A girly voice spoke back to her. "Oh. Beast Boy is right here."

The green boy popped up right beside her. "For me? Thank you!" He took the phone before she could ask any more questions and flopped down on the couch. "Hey, nice to hear from you too," he said to the girl on the other end of the line. "I hope we didn't cause too much trouble at the game. Really? You would? Sweet!"

Robin started getting suspicious. "Beast Boy," he asked, "who are you talking to?"

"Tara." He focused back on the phone. "Okay, I got one. Why did the pelican get kicked out of the restaurant?"

At the infamous name, the three nearest Titans, basically everyone except for Cyborg, froze. Kim observed their faces. Something was definitely wrong here.

Raven spoke first. "You're talking to Terra," she said, processing her own words slowly. "On our phone. She called you on our phone and is talking to you. Terra."

Robin scratched his head. "No way," he said. "There is just no way."

Starfire looked quizzically at her teammates. "But Terra…she does not remember us, correct, Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy finished his punch line. "Because he had such a large bill! Get it?" He then turned to his friends. "No, not that Terra. This is Tara from Middleton. I met her at the football game." He spoke back into the phone. "You really liked it? Great, I have so many more. Okay, so why are ducks so funny?"

"A different Tara?" Starfire repeated. "It must be a very common name on this planet."

Kim realized who Beast Boy meant he was talking to. "Tara's on the cheer squad with me," she explained. "She hangs out in Bonnie's crowd, but she's all right when she's alone. I guess Beast Boy gave her the Tower's phone number. She must have gotten over Jason Morgan pretty quickly if she's already calling Beast Boy."

The three superheroes sighed with relief. "Good," Robin said. "Regardless of how Beast Boy feels, the last thing we need right now is to make the situation with Slade any more complicated."

"Agreed," said Starfire.

"Complicated?" Kim asked, confused. "What's so complicated about Tara? She's probably one of the least complicated people I know."

"It's a long story," Raven said. This did not really explain anything, but Kim got the feeling that the Titans didn't really want to talk about it in detail. Still, she knew she had to find out more about this first Terra they kept referencing.

Raven floated to her own corner to read. Starfire let her thoughts wander back to the battle at the football game. She was calm now, collected. She could tell Robin her story without losing control. After all, when else was she going to do it? And if she didn't tell him, who else would she be able to tell?

She took in a deep breath, preparing to say what she had to about her captivity. "Robin," she said, "there is something I wish to tell you."

Robin put his hand on her shoulder. "Go for it, Star. You can tell me anything."

The memories flooded back all at once. Being held on an alien ship. Torture. Experimentation. Blackfire. Pain. Anger. Power. She didn't know where to start. "Um…well…" she tried to think of the right words, but they wouldn't come. "That is…tonight at the game I…you see I…I…" She froze up, her mouth open with no sound coming out of it.

Robin took his hand off her shoulder and looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

She banished the memories and quickly thought up a different statement that she knew she could deliver. "I…thought that tomorrow we could perhaps give Kim and Ron the tour of Jump City, as they are our guests here. Do you agree?"

Robin thought for a moment about the proposition. "I don't know. Slade is top priority right now, for all of us. We don't have time to fool around."

Cyborg, aware of the conversation, added his two cents while still moving his thumbs over his controller. "Oh come on, Boy Wonder, what are the odds of Slade striking at the exact time we're out?"

"Pretty good if we're out for a long time," Robin pointed out.

"Sure," Cyborg conceded, "but what if we stick together at all times, keep our communicators on, and keep an eye out for clues while we go? You could use a break from obsessing over the bad guys, and Team Possible deserves to see the town. It's not like sulking at home all day is going to get us any closer to solving the mystery. Whoo!" he exclaimed as his robot avatar grabbed a fifty point bonus. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Well…I suppose it's all right," Robin admitted. "But the moment we hear of any trouble, the break is over. Are you in, Kim?"

Kim nodded. "Of course. I'd love to get to know your city. What do you say, Ron?"

"Huh?" His eyes were glued to the screen by now. "Tour of the town? Sounds badical. Must. Crush. White. Robot."

"Is he okay?" Robin asked. "I don't think he's blinked since the new round started."

"Oh, he's fine," Kim assured him. "He's like this sometimes. As soon as the game ends he'll snap out of it…hopefully."

The screen suddenly froze and big red letters appeared stating the dreaded words: Time's Up. Cyborg and Ron put down their controllers and waited anxiously for the answer to the ultimate question: Who has the right to say "booyah"? The scores were tallied and two numbers appeared on the screen. Both of their jaws dropped.

"A tie?" Cyborg said. "That ain't right!"

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Tie breakers can't end in ties! That's got to be like breaking some kind of space-time continuum thingy."

"You better believe we'll find the real winner tomorrow, no getting around it," Cyborg stated, standing up. "Until then, y'all better get some sleep." He walked over to the door and scanned his palm on the security system. "Lockdown initiated," he said. "So where are the guests sleeping at?"

Beast Boy, having finally said goodbye to Tara and hung up ever so reluctantly, raised his hand. "Oh! I know! I've got a bunk bed. Ron can stay in my room."

"Sounds great," Ron said. "What about Kim?"

"She could always stay in Raven's room," Beast Boy suggested, winking at the hooded girl to whom it belonged.

"No," Raven said with absolutely zero emotion. "No one goes in my room. Ever."

"I would volunteer my room," Starfire confessed, "but I have the decorations for the annual festival of the Blarthog all over the floor. There is not enough of the space."

Kim shrugged. "I'm fine on the couch if you don't have anywhere else. Really."

Robin thought about all the rooms in the Tower. There was one room no one had mentioned yet. There was a reason no one had mentioned it. He looked directly at Beast Boy. "I suppose there is one more option, if no one minds."

Beast Boy instantly understood what Robin meant. He nodded solemnly. "No one minds, Robin. Someone might as well stay in that room. It's wasting space staying empty."

The rest of the Titans looked at him, trying to analyze how truthful he was being. That room had a special meaning for Beast Boy. Terra had left a long time ago, and with this new Tara he seemed to be moving on, but how moved on was he?

"You're sure about this," Raven checked, being the teammate most aware of the others' emotions.

Beast Boy held up his hands. "What else do you want me to say? Of course I am! It's just a room, right?" He laughed a little bit to reassure his friends.

Robin took charge again. "In that case, Kim, we have a room just for you. Raven, you show her the way. Everyone else, we've got thrity minutes until the lights shut off. Let's go, team."

The Titans split into their respective directions to prepare for bed, with Ron tagging along behind Beast Boy. Kim grabbed her bag and followed Raven's dark form out of the main room and through the hallway until at last reaching a door. It looked just like every other door in the Tower. Kim had expected something else by the way they were all talking about it, though she hadn't been quite sure what.

The automatic door snapped open. Raven floated silently into the darkness, and Kim followed, feeling kind of uneasy. She didn't usually believe in ghosts, but in a tower run by super powered teens, anything was possible.

"So, uh, Raven," she said, feeling her way through the dark. "What's the sitch with this room, exactly?"

Raven flipped the light switch, illuminating a big bed, several shelves, and walls painted to look like a desert sunset with stars on the ceiling. Kim's jaw dropped. "Wow," she said. "This looks…"

"Nice?" Raven suggested.

"Beautiful," Kim finished. "Seriously, did you guys paint the sunset on the walls? That is so cool."

"Glad you like it," Raven said, though her voice didn't seem too glad. "We used to have another girl on this team. This was her room. She used to love camping out under the stars, so we decorated accordingly."

Kim put two and two together. "That girl was named Terra, wasn't she?"

"Yes," Raven replied. "That was her name."

Kim continued to remember and fit together the clues she had heard earlier. "She was the one you lost last time Slade took over the city, wasn't she?" She noticed a large box on a shelf labeled "Rock Collection" and added, "Her powers must have had some connection to the earth. Geomancer?"

Raven was actually surprised that Kim was catching on so quickly. "Yes, she was a geomancer. Are you always this sharp?"

"It pays to have a brain when you're saving the world," Kim explained. "It sounds like she had a thing with Beast Boy, and Tara from my school is his kind of rebound crush. So what's the big about this room, besides the fact that it was hers?"

Raven sat down on the bed cross-legged. Kim joined her. "Terra was a hero," she told the redhead, "but she made a mistake. A terrible mistake. It hurt all of us, Beast Boy most of all. No one's lived in this room since she…well…left. Like I said, it's a really long story."

"I've got time," Kim said, wanting to hear more.

Raven took off her hood to reveal her short purple hair. "All right, here it goes." She waved her hand and a black swirl appeared beside her. On the inside of the swirl was the shape of a small blonde girl wearing a butterfly clip. "This was Terra. She could move the earth. We found her one day and let her stay with us, since she didn't have a home of her own. Beast Boy was particularly taken with her." The image changed to show clips of Terra demonstrating her powers against a giant scorpion, then Beast Boy making her laugh. "However," Raven continued, "we didn't know everything about her. She couldn't fully control her powers. She didn't have a home because she was kicked out of every place where she accidentally caused avalanches or mudslides or worse. She was afraid we'd reject her if we found out." The image showed Terra with her eyes glowing yellow, floating off the ground while dirt and rocks swirled around her in an uncontrollable miniature storm. "Well, of course Robin figured it out. He meant to help her, but she thought Beast Boy had broken his word and told on her. Not wanting to get rejected again, she ran away."

"But there's more," Kim guessed.

"Naturally." The image changed again to Terra talking with Slade, a face Kim actually recognized. "Slade offered to teach Terra to control her powers. She was desperate, so she accepted. And she succeeded. Unfortunately, the deal was for her to betray us and become his apprentice. She rejoined the team, only to let Slade's robot army in here while she and Beast Boy were out on a date. We defeated them, but it wasn't easy. Slade showed up and took Terra away after revealing it all to Beast Boy. He was crushed." The dark swirl now showed an angry Terra in a new battle suit, causing destruction. "Now Slade's full-time apprentice, she returned to help him destroy us and take over the city. We tried to fight her, but we couldn't. Even I couldn't, and I was the last one to trust her. She nearly had us, but we came back. It turned out that Slade had taken complete control over her body and powers, and she couldn't resist if she wanted to. She wanted to stop fighting, but he forced her on." An image appeared of Terra levitating a boulder just above Beast Boy, while he looked pleadingly at her. "In a final change of heart, she was able to break free of his control and destroy him. However, his underground lair had accidentally triggered the magma under the city to explode."

"Wait," Kim stopped her. "You say there's a volcano under this city?"

"Not exactly," Raven clarified. "It's more like a super deep fault line. With all the underground activity and geomancing going around, it was going to blow." The image changed again to a picture of Terra seemingly made of stone. "We all got out, but she volunteered to stay behind. She used her powers to stop the explosion before it reached the surface, and saved the city, but was turned into a stone statue in the process. I looked through all my magic books for a cure, but there was nothing."

"So…she basically died?"

The image changed to a girl who looked just like Terra, but she was wearing a school uniform. "That's what we all thought. One day, Beast Boy claimed to see her at a local high school. The girl denied having any superpowers or being named Terra, but Beast Boy was sure it was her. He tried to bring her back onto the team, but she refused. It seemed like she didn't want anything to do with us, whether she remembered or not. We haven't seen any hint of her since." The black swirl vanished.

Kim pondered the sad story for a moment. "So the last time you brought someone completely new on the team, she betrayed you. That explains why Robin wasn't a huge fan of me at first. He was worried that I would do the same thing."

"Exactly," Raven replied. "I think you won him over, though. He gave you one of our communicators. That makes you an honorary Titan. Powers or no powers, you're one of us now."

Kim took out her Titans communicator and looked at it. "Wow. I didn't realize these meant so much to you guys. I'm honored."

The cloaked girl put her hand over the yellow circle. "Just don't let it fall into the wrong hands. All it takes is one little bug and our locations and conversations could be compromised."

"Of course," Kim said, tucking it deep into her pocket. "You can trust me."

Raven stood up. "I know. My powers allow me to sense inner emotions of others. I've looked into your feelings since you arrived. You have the odd snarky streak, and maybe a rebellious desire here and there, but on the whole you're pretty pure. You're more trustworthy than some of the other Titans even." She pulled her hood back up and walked calmly toward the door. Kim still had one lingering question on her mind.

"Raven!" she called.

"Yes?" the girl responded, sounding like she would rather be somewhere else.

"You said Terra destroyed Slade," Kim pointed out. "How did he come back?"

Raven stood perfectly still. "You don't want to hear it. It gets pretty ugly."

"If I can do anything, I'm sure I can handle it," Kim argued.

Raven still didn't move. "Let's just say I had some…family problems that came up. Story time's over. See you in the morning."

"See you," Kim said, waving at her new friend's back until she disappeared into her own room. Kim walked back into Terra's room and looked over the contents of the shelves, curious. She found a box shaped like a heart, obviously homemade. Picking it up, she saw on the bottom a message written in marker: "To Terra, from BB" with a tiny heart. Carefully, she put the box back in its place. This room may not have been haunted, but after hearing that story, she could tell that there was definitely a serious creepy factor. The silence made her think about the creepiness more, and also the tragic story. She couldn't imagine how Beast Boy must have felt. If anything like that happened to Ron, she didn't know what she would do. She flopped down on the bed and looked up at the painted stars. "You know," she said to the emptiness around her, "sleeping under the stars isn't so bad."


End file.
